‘Super Moon’ May Not Be So Super
You may have heard that Sunday night's full moon was a "super moon." But, a local astronomer is cautioning people not to get too excited.
You may have heard that Sunday night's full moon was a "super moon." But, a local astronomer is cautioning people not to get too excited.
On Sunday night, a total lunar eclipse will coincide with a super moon and a blood moon for the first time in over three decades. When a super moon occurs the moon is at its closest point to the earth and can appear up to fourteen percent larger. The red tint of a blood moon is a side effect of the lunar eclipse where the moon passes into its own shadow. This combination won’t happen again until 2033.
Eighty-five years after Pluto was discovered by an astronomer from Illinois – the New Horizons spacecraft will fly by Pluto and show us what this far-off world looks like. David Leake, the head of Staerkel Planetarium, fills us in on what to expect and the Central Illinois connection to Pluto.