KQED-FM, FORUM (SAN FRANCISCO) -- On Wednesday, January 31, early risers will have the opportunity to see a celestial trifecta: a blue supermoon coinciding with a total lunar eclipse. The moon will be closer to the earth and brighter than usual as the eclipse nears, and it will also be the second full moon of the month. Astronomer Andrew Fraknoi joins Forum to talk about this rare lunar event. He’ll also share some other exciting dispatches from the cosmos about the origin of gold in the universe, and “burping” black holes.
Fraknoi is a professor of astronomy, Osher Lifelong Learning Institute, San Francisco State University, and professor emeritus, Astronomy program, Foothill College.
“The big news here is that there’s going to be a total eclipse of the moon, where the full moon goes slowly dark until it’s completely in the Earth’s shadow,” Fraknoi says. “That’s the beautiful and visible thing that’s happening tomorrow morning.”