By Dori Modney with files from Neel Roberts-RASC Calgary Astronomer & Marica Dunn - AP

Total lunar eclipse meets supermoon Sunday night

Jan 18, 2019 | 9:24 AM

CALGARY — Southern Albertans are expected to get some of the best views in the country Sunday night, (Jan 20), of a total lunar eclipse.  That’s according to Neel Roberts, a member of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada (RASC) in Calgary.

Referred to as a “Super Blood Wolf”, it’s a super Moon which is 14% larger, 30% brighter with a reddish glow.  Wolf is its regular name for that month.

The shadowing will start at 7:36-pm and peak at 10:12, finishing at 12:48-am.

The eclipse will be easily visible without a telescope.  However, those who want to get a snapshot and aren’t quite sure how to maximize the opportunity, can get stome tips from the “amazimingskyguy“, Alan Dyer, on his website.

According to Rice University astrophysicist Patrick Hartigan, the moon, Earth and sun will line up this weekend for the only total lunar eclipse this year and next. At the same time, the moon will be ever so closer to Earth and appear slightly bigger and brighter than usual — a supermoon.

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“This one is particularly good,” said Rice “It not only is a supermoon and it’s a total eclipse, but the total eclipse also lasts pretty long. It’s about an hour.”

It begins with the partial phase, when Earth’s shadow will begin to nip at the moon. Totality, is when Earth’s shadow completely blankets the moon.

If the skies are clear, the entire eclipse will be visible in North and South America, as well as Greenland, Iceland, Ireland, Great Britain, Norway, Sweden, Portugal and the French and Spanish coasts. The rest of Europe, as well as Africa, will have partial viewing before the moon sets.

During totality, the moon will look red because of sunlight scattering off Earth’s atmosphere. That’s why an eclipsed moon is sometimes known as a blood moon. In January, the full moon is also sometimes known as the wolf moon or great spirit moon.

So informally speaking, the upcoming lunar eclipse will be a super blood wolf — or great spirit — moon.

Parents “can keep their kids up maybe a little bit later,” said, Hartigan, who will catch the lunar extravaganza from Houston. “It’s just a wonderful thing for the whole family to see because it’s fairly rare to have all these things kind of come together at the same time.”

The next total lunar eclipse won’t be until May 2021.

As for full-moon supermoons, this will be the first of three this year. The upcoming supermoon will be about 222,000 miles (357,300 kilometres) away. The Feb. 19 supermoon will be a bit closer and one in March will be the farthest.