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Right now, the moon is very very full (7 photos)

January hosts not one but two supermoons, one tonight and the other on January 31

Although heavy cloud cover means it's unlikely we will be able to see it tonight, there's a supermoon in the sky right now. 

"January 2018 is a very special month," says the Old Farmer's Almanac

The Wolf Moon, as it's called this month, rose at 4:59 p.m. and will set at 7:33 a.m. on Jan. 2

"A Super full moon looks around 12 per cent to 14 per cent bigger than its counterpart, the micro moon, and up to 7 per cent bigger than an average full moon," says timeanddate.com, a popular astrology website.

Luckily, loyal reader Theresa Cassan was able to take and share with us these breathtaking images of the moon on the night of Dec. 30, before the clouds gathered. 

Hopefully skies will be clear for the second lunar event in January.

Jan. 31 marks the date of a supermoon that is both blue and red.

The moon is called blue because it's the second full moon in the month and it's red because it's going to be eclipsed. 

On Jan. 31 the moon will still be very close to its perigee, or closest point in its orbit around the earth (less than 360,000 kilometers away) and a total lunar eclipse will be visible in much of northern Ontario, and a partial lunar eclipse will be visible in southern Ontario.

Thunder Bay, Sault Ste. Marie, Timmins and Elliot Lake will enjoy a view of the full lunar eclipse beginning about 6:50 a.m. and lasting about 12 minutes while North Bay, Sudbury, Manitoulin Island, Guelph and Barrie will be able to view a partial lunar eclipse at that time.

If you're planning to try to view the super, red, blue moon at the end of the month pick out your location well in advance and arrive about an hour before the beginning of the eclipse to catch the penumbral and partial eclipse as well.


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