Greek sky watchers join in "hunt" for Super Blue Blood Moon
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E-mail Xinhua, February 1, 2018
By Maria Spiliopoulou, Alexia Vlachou
ATHENS, Jan. 31 (Xinhua) -- Greek sky watchers joined in on Wednesday the worldwide "hunt" for the rare Super Blue Blood Moon.
Although the full phenomenon was difficult to observe from Greece, as a Greek expert told Xinhua, the good weather helped people to enjoy the spectacle on the sky.
The coincidence of a Blue Moon, a total lunar eclipse and a supermoon all at the same time is not something that happens often. Americans for example had the chance to admire it clearly for first time since 1866.
Greeks were not so lucky this time, but still scientists, photographers and amateur sky watchers seized the unique opportunity and took positions to observe something marvelous, a cosmic coincidence, as Vassilis Harmandaris, Director of the Institute of Astrophysics at the Athens National Observatory, told Xinhua.
The Blue moon is the full moon that appears twice in the same month, the Greek scientist explained.
A lunar eclipse occurs when the moon is partially blocked by the Earth's shadow, while a super moon happens when the moon's closest approach to Earth in an orbit coincides with the full moon.
"Unfortunately we will not be able to see the complete event from Greece, but nonetheless it is spectacular... For the eclipse itself it is very difficult to see in Greece," Harmandaris said.
One should be in an area where they could see the moon just as it rises above the horizon to have a clear view and see the moon's color changing progressively into red and then become darker, as the sun light passes through the atmosphere and illuminates the moon painting it reddish, he explained.
In Greece on Wednesday, the phenomenon was visible only towards its end, the Greek expert noted.
"The moon itself is wonderful to see if you are with company in a beautiful place, so I think at the center of Athens at a historic location just across from the Parthenon it is a beautiful place to come whether it is eclipsed or not," Harmandaris said.
"It is a full moon, so it is going to be nice. The weather is going to be very good, so we can actually enjoy it from Greece," he added, urging Greeks to go outdoors and look up to the sky. Enditem
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