Once each year, I hold a liveblog, for some event occurring in the sky.
Welcome to the annual astronomical event liveblog for 2019. This year’s event is a Super Blood Howling Wolf Moon, which at the time this liveblog was posted, had just started.
In the days before clickbait, a Super Blood Howling Wolf Moon would have been called, more plainly and simply, a total lunar eclipse.
The 2013 astronomical event liveblog was for a plain and simple Perseid Meteor Shower; the 2014 for an Especially Spectacular Perseid Meteor Shower.
The 2010 astronomical event liveblog was for a plain and simple Total Lunar Eclipse; the 2015 for a Super Blood Moon.
This year, in an ever more desperate attempt to bring in readership, by ever more elaborate title, I have added a Howling Wolf to the Super Blood Moon.
Quasi Rules
General rules for an astronomical event liveblog are:
- Go outside, if you are not outside already. Look at the sky, and report back here what you see.
- If you can see what we are talking about here without going outside (as for example by looking out a window), you can report that.
- If you cannot see what we are talking about here, whether you are inside or out (as for example because it is cloudy), you can watch a livestream of the event, and talk about that.
- Talk about anything else you would like.
Partial Schedule
Here is an abbreviated timeline for the stages of tonight’s Super Blood Howling Wolf Moon. A more complete timeline of stages is available at space.com, as is an explanation and illustration of what the stages are.
STAGE |
AST |
EST |
CST |
MST |
PST |
AKST |
HST |
Penumbral shadow APPEARS |
11:16 |
10:16 |
9:16 |
8:16 |
7:16 |
6:16 |
-- |
Partial Eclipse Begins |
11:33 |
10:33 |
9:33 |
8:33 |
7:33 |
6:33 |
-- |
Total Eclipse begins |
12:41 |
11:41 |
10:41 |
9:41 |
8:41 |
7:41 |
6:41 |
Middle of totality |
1:13 |
12:13 |
11:13 |
10:13 |
9:13 |
8:13 |
7:13 |
Why It Is Called a Super Blood Howling Wolf Moon
In news articles about the Super Blood Howling Wolf Moon, a word-by-word explanation of why it is called what it is called, seems near universal.
The Super Blood Howling Wolf Moon is “super”, because this total lunar eclipse happens to occur when the moon is very near the closest point to Earth in its elliptical orbit. The moon thus appears slightly larger than usual.
The Super Blood Howling Wolf Moon is “blood”, because during the time of total eclipse, the moon will be a color that could be described as blood red.
In all the many word-by-word explanations I have read, of what the event is called, I have never seen any explanation of the “moon” part. The following is unsourced original information from me. The Super Blood Howling Wolf Moon is “moon”, because a lunar eclipse is something that happens to the moon, and because the moon is what we look at.
The Super Blood Howling Wolf Moon is “wolf,” because according to the Farmer’s Almanac, Native Americans created names for the full moon of each month, to help different tribes track the seasons. The Farmer’s Almanac adopted the full moon names used by the Algonquin tribes who lived in regions from New England to Lake Superior. (I am adopting here the strategy of neutrally citing the Farmer’s Almanac as my source of information, rather than actively calling your attention to the fact that the information is perhaps dubious.) The Wolf Moon occurred at the time of year when wolves howled, in hunger, outside Native American villages.
Finally, the Super Blood Howling Wolf Moon is “howling,” because the hungry wolves outside the Native American villages, which give the Wolf Moon its name, were howling. And because putting the word in the liveblog title makes for better clickbait. But that “Super Blood Howling Hungry Wolf Moon”, to my sensibilities, is taking clickbait titling too far.
Why the Total Lunar Eclipse of April 2014 Was a Blood Pink Moon
A Blood Moon is blood red, as discussed above.
Once in a blue moon, we have four not three full moons in a season. Using a naming convention from the Maine Farmer’s Almanac, the third of the four is a called a blue moon. And a total lunar eclipse of the third could thus be called a Blood Blue Moon.
According to the Farmer’s Almanac (I would not want to call your attention to a possible lack of reliability of my source here), the Algonquin tribes who lived in regions from New England to Lake Superior called the April full moon a Pink Moon. And that is why the total lunar eclipse of April 2014 was a Blood Pink Moon.
Apologies
In 2014, I did not post an annual astronomical event liveblog. I forgot.
And I did not post an annual astronomical event liveblog last year, as well. I forgot, again.
I apologize for these failures.
And I might have to call this a quasi annual astronomical event liveblog, now.