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Skygazers across the Western Hemisphere will be treated to celestial eye candy on Sunday night into early Monday morning as the full moon turns coppery red during a total lunar eclipse. It will be the only total lunar eclipse of the year, and that in itself should be reason enough to stay up late and marvel as the moon gets swallowed by Earth’s shadow.
You might have heard that this eclipse is also being called a “Super Blood Wolf Moon.” But as astronomers know, no number of edgy modifiers could make this display of cosmic clockwork any cooler.
This is amazing! I was going to go out and shoot it here with my DSLR and night lens but it's too overcast up here in Maine. Can't even tell where the moon is in the sky at all.
Long ago, Rabbit was a great hunter. He lived with his grandmother in a lodge which stood deep in the Micmac forest. It was winter and Rabbit set traps and laid snares to catch game for food. He caught many small animals and birds, until one day he discovered that some mysterious being was robbing his traps. Rabbit and his grandmother became hungry. Though he visited his traps very early each morning, he always found them empty.
At first Rabbit thought that the robber might be a cunning wolverine, until one morning he found long, narrow footprints alongside his trap line. It was, he thought, the tracks of the robber, but they looked like moonbeams. Each morning Rabbit rose earlier and earlier, but the being of the long foot was always ahead of him and always his traps were empty.
Rabbit made a trap from a bowstring with the loop so cleverly fastened that he felt certain that he would catch the robber when it came. He took one end of the thong with him and hid himself behind a clump of bushes from which he could watch his snare. It was bright moonlight while he waited, but suddenly it became very dark as the moon disappeared. A few stars were still shining and there were no clouds in the sky, so Rabbit wondered what had happened to the moon.
Someone or something came stealthily through the trees and then Rabbit was almost blinded by a flash of bright, white light which went straight to his trap line and shone through the snare which he had set. Quick as a lightning flash, Rabbit jerked the bowstring and tightened the noose. There was a sound of struggling and the light lurched from side to side. Rabbit knew b the tugging on his string that he had caught the robber. He fastened the bowstring to a nearby sapling to hold the loop tight.
Rabbit raced back to tell his grandmother, who was a wise old woman, what had happened. She told him that he must return at once and see who or what he had caught. Rabbit, who was very frightened, wanted to wait for daylight but his grandmother said that might be too late, so he returned to his trap line.
When he came near his traps, Rabbit saw that the bright light was still there. It was so bright that it hurt his eyes. He bathed them in the icy water of a nearby brook, but still they smarted. He made big snowballs and threw them at the light, in the hope of putting it out. As they went close to the light, he heard them sizzle and saw them melt. Next, Rabbit scooped up great pawfuls of soft clay from the stream and made many big clay *****. He was a good shot and threw the ***** with all of his force at the dancing white light. He heard them strike hard and then his prisoner shouted.
Then a strange, quivering voice asked why he had been snared and demanded that he be set free at once, because he was the man in the moon and he must be home before dawn came. His face had been spotted with clay and, when Rabbit went closer, the moon man saw him and threatened to kill him and all of his tribe if he were not released at once.
Rabbit was so terrified that he raced back to tell his grandmother about his strange captive. She too was much afraid and told Rabbit to return and release the thief immediately. Rabbit went back, and his voice shook with fear as he told the man in the moon that he would be released if he promised never to rob the snares again. To make doubly sure, Rabbit asked him to promise that he would never return to earth, and the moon man swore that he would never do so. Rabbit could hardly see in the dazzling light, but at last he managed to gnaw through the bowstring with his teeth and the man in the moon soon disappeared in the sky, leaving a bright trail of light behind him.
Rabbit had been nearly blinded by the great light and his shoulders were badly scorched. Even today, rabbits blink as though light is too strong for their eyes; their eyelids are pink, and their eyes water if they look at a bright light. Their lips quiver, telling of Rabbit's terror.
The man in the moon has never returned to earth. When he lights the world, one can still see the marks of the clay which Rabbit threw on his face. Sometimes he disappears for a few nights, when he is trying to rub the marks of the clay ***** from his face. Then the world is dark; but when the man in the moon appears again, one can see that he has never been able to clean the clay marks from his shining face.
Dustin Nelson -
It won't be visible across the entirety of the United States, like the recent total lunar eclipse during a supermoon, but part of the United States may have the opportunity to chase that eclipse with a northern lights sighting.
The SWPC's 3-Day Forecast has the G1 alert lasting from 8pm EST on January 23 to 2am on January 24. At the outset, it will likely be too light out for the northern lights to be seen, but once it's dark, the area above should have a good view until the end of that time frame.
you should be able to catch the aurora in parts of Alaska, Montana, North Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, and the northern tip of Maine on either night.
If you're in Canada, you should be able to spot it almost everywhere outside of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Newfoundland, and southern regions of Ontario, Quebec, and British Columbia.
Before 1890, Mrs. W. Wallace Brown wrote that folktales among the Wabanaki must have been extensive, for, though these legends were so swiftly dying out, there seemed to be few things in nature for which they had no legend of its life or beginning. They were known as people living at the sunrise in northeastern and northwestern Maine. A large Wabanaki camp was situated in the Kennebec Valley of Maine.
Old Chief M'Sartto, Morning Star, had only one son, so different from the other boys of the tribe as to be a worry to Old Chief. The boy would not stay and play with the others, but would take his bow and arrows, and leave home for many days at a time, always going toward the north.
When he came home his family asked, "Where have you been and what did you see?" But he had no reply. At last Old Chief said to his wife, "The boy needs watching. I will follow him when he takes off again."
A few days later, Old Chief followed the boy's trail and they travelled for a long time. Suddenly, Old Chief's eyes closed. He could not hear. A curious feeling came over him. Then he knew nothing.
Later, when his eyes opened, he found himself in a strange light country, with no sun, no moon, no stars, but the country was lit by a peculiar brightness. He saw many beings, but all of them different from his own people. They gathered around him and tried to talk, but he did not understand their language.
Old Chief M'Sartto did not know where to go or what to do. He was very well treated by this strange tribe. He watched them play games and became attracted to a wonderful game of ball that he had never seen played before. The game seemed to turn the light into many colours. The players all had lights on their heads and wore very curious kinds of belts, called Menquan, or "Rainbow" belts.
In a few days, an old man came and spoke to Old Chief in his own language, asking if he knew where he was. "No," Old Chief replied.
"You are in the country of Wa-ba-ban of the northern lights," the stranger said. "I came here many years ago. I was the only one here from the 'Lower Country,' as we usually call it. But now there is a boy who comes to visit us every few days."
"How did you get here, and what tribe did you come from?" Old Chief asked.
"I follow the path called Spirits' Path, through the Milky Way," said the old man.
"That must be the same path I followed to come here," said Old Chief M'Sartto, Morning Star. "Did you have a queer feeling, as if you lost all sense of knowledge when you travelled here?"
"Yes, exactly that kind of sensation," he replied. "I could neither see nor hear."
"We did come by the same path," Old Chief said. "Can you now tell me how I can go to my home at the Wabanaki camp?"
"Yes, the Chief here can direct you."
"Now can you tell me where I can see my son? He's the boy who comes here to visit you."
"Stay here and watch, you will see him playing ball," said the old man, as he left to visit many wigwams to invite everyone out to a ball game.
Old Chief was very glad to hear the news of his son, and soon the ball game began, and many beautiful colours spread out over the playing field.
"Do you see your son playing?" the old man asked.
"Yes, the boy with the brightest light on his head is my son."
The two men then went to see the Chief of the Northern Lights. The old man spoke up and said to him, "The Chief Morning Star of the Lower Country wants to go home and desires to take his son with him."
Chief of Northern Lights called all of his people together to bid good-bye to Old Chief Morning Star and his son. Then he ordered two great birds to carry them to their home. When they travelled the Milky Way, Old Chief again felt the same strange feelings he had experienced when going there.
When Old Chief came to his senses again, he found himself near his home. His wife was very glad to see him. Her son had arrived first and told her that his father was safe and would come soon. She paid little notice to that announcement for she had thought that her husband had lost his way.
Now her wigwam was filled with joy again at the sight of her son and Old Chief M'Sartto, Morning Star, returned to Wabanaki.
Total Lunar Eclipse Live Stream
