January has closed out with a fantastic and rare celestial triple-header: a Super Blue Blood Moon. This mouthful of a title refers to a total lunar eclipse occurring simultaneously with a 'blue moon' (the second full moon in a calendar month) while the Moon is also near its closest orbital approach to Earth (a supermoon).



While the 'blue' and 'super' aspects are mostly just interesting quirks of our calendar and orbital mechanics, the total lunar eclipse is always a magnificent sight. The deep, coppery red hue caused by the Earth's atmosphere refracting sunlight into the lunar shadow is breathtaking. It has been brilliant seeing all the incredible photographs flooding social media from the parts of the globe that had clear, night-time skies for totality.