150 watch ‘super blue blood moon’ at Orange Coast College
About 150 people turned out in the wee hours to watch Wednesday morning’s total lunar eclipse at a viewing event presented by the astronomy department at Orange Coast College in Costa Mesa.
The college offered visitors telescopes to help see the cosmic event between 3:30 and 6 a.m. in the Adams Avenue parking lot.
It was the first time in 35 years that a blue moon synced up with a super moon and a total lunar eclipse, sometimes called a blood moon because of its red hue as it moves into Earth’s shadow.
The lunar eclipse, the first since September 2015, occurred during a period when the moon is closer to Earth than usual and therefore appears bigger and brighter than average. Thus the term super moon.
The eclipse also occurred on a blue moon, the second full moon of the month.
The Los Angeles Times contributed to this report.
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