By: Juanita Cortés Moreno 10A
It is no secret to us that last January 31st an amazing astronomical event took place in the sky of our planet, and that for the first time in around 150 years, we were able to appreciate a Super Blue Blood Moon. Even though Colombia wasn't as lucky in the sighting of this event as other countries, this was a huge deal all around the world, and thanks to that, it was possible for science to study a little deeper into our sun, our moon, and of course, our planet.
First of all, it is important for us to know what a Super Blue Blood Moon is. A Super Blue Blood Moon is an extremely rare thing to appreciate, not because it is a supernatural event or anything like that, but because it is the union of three lunar events that rarely or almost never cross paths. Even though these events are super normal and some of them tend to happen several times a year, when they come together, they create a unique astronomical casualty like the Super Blue Blood Moon we saw last month.
The three astronomical events that form a Super Blue Blood Moon are:
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Super Moon: This event happens when, thanks to the elliptical shape of the Moon’s orbit, while being a full Moon, it passes through its closest point to Earth, making it appear bigger to all terrestrial population.
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Total Lunar Eclipse: I think we are all familiar with the term “eclipse”, but for this specific case, it happens when the Moon is at its fuller phase, and when the Earth is right between the Moon and the Sun. The Moon doesn't have its own light, so it needs the Sun to shine, but when this eclipse happens, the Earth blocks the sunlight causing the Earth’s shadow to be reflected on the Moon's surface, giving place to what we know as a Total Lunar Eclipse.
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Blue Moon: Even though the blue part is nothing but a name, this event is a bit rare because it almost never happens, although it is the simplest of them all. The Moon is called Blue Moon when it reaches full Moon for the second time on a month and even though this isn't a big deal, it is essential for the making of a Super Blue Blood Moon.
With that being said and with all the information clear in our heads, we can now move on to the specifics of this year's apparition. As I previously said, an event like this hadn't happened in almost 150 years, and to be more exact, the last time it happened was on March 31st, 1886, which means we are super lucky to be alive right now because the majority of the all-time population probably didn't and will never see something like this. As I also said before, we were not able to observe the January Super Blue Blood Moon very well in Colombia, and we weren't the only ones with this fate. This event was majorly and only appreciated completely in the west coast of the United States and in some Asian and European counties, but for Africa and South America, the sighting was not great because the eclipse, one of its components, wasn't visible on these parts of the planet.
The universe and nature are very mysterious things, and studying them is, in my opinion, one of the greatest pleasures in life and the Super Blue Blood Moon we experienced this year is proof to that. It let us see the Red Side of the Moon, a side our generation had never seen before, and I think that, as I said in the last paragraph, we are very lucky to be alive at this time, where we can experience amazing events like this ones, and enjoy all the knowledge that science has given us. What is the Universe preparing for us next? I will be thrilled to find out.
