This Weekend’s Super Blood Wolf Moon … or Something Like That

 ========= Old Image Removed =========Array
(
    [_wp_attached_file] => Array
        (
            [0] => 2019/01/IMG_7495_Weigel.jpg
        )

    [_wp_attachment_metadata] => Array
        (
            [0] => a:5:{s:5:"width";i:1920;s:6:"height";i:1080;s:4:"file";s:27:"2019/01/IMG_7495_Weigel.jpg";s:5:"sizes";a:13:{s:6:"medium";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:27:"IMG_7495_Weigel-336x189.jpg";s:5:"width";i:336;s:6:"height";i:189;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:5:"large";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:27:"IMG_7495_Weigel-771x434.jpg";s:5:"width";i:771;s:6:"height";i:434;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:9:"thumbnail";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:27:"IMG_7495_Weigel-140x140.jpg";s:5:"width";i:140;s:6:"height";i:140;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:12:"medium_large";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:27:"IMG_7495_Weigel-768x432.jpg";s:5:"width";i:768;s:6:"height";i:432;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:9:"1536x1536";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:28:"IMG_7495_Weigel-1536x864.jpg";s:5:"width";i:1536;s:6:"height";i:864;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:9:"wbhm-icon";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:25:"IMG_7495_Weigel-80x80.jpg";s:5:"width";i:80;s:6:"height";i:80;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:13:"wbhm-featured";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:27:"IMG_7495_Weigel-600x338.jpg";s:5:"width";i:600;s:6:"height";i:338;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:20:"wbhm-featured-square";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:27:"IMG_7495_Weigel-600x600.jpg";s:5:"width";i:600;s:6:"height";i:600;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:18:"wbhm-featured-home";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:27:"IMG_7495_Weigel-553x311.jpg";s:5:"width";i:553;s:6:"height";i:311;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:22:"wbhm-featured-carousel";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:27:"IMG_7495_Weigel-470x265.jpg";s:5:"width";i:470;s:6:"height";i:265;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:28:"ab-block-post-grid-landscape";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:27:"IMG_7495_Weigel-600x400.jpg";s:5:"width";i:600;s:6:"height";i:400;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:25:"ab-block-post-grid-square";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:27:"IMG_7495_Weigel-600x600.jpg";s:5:"width";i:600;s:6:"height";i:600;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:14:"post-thumbnail";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:27:"IMG_7495_Weigel-125x125.jpg";s:5:"width";i:125;s:6:"height";i:125;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}}s:10:"image_meta";a:12:{s:8:"aperture";s:1:"0";s:6:"credit";s:0:"";s:6:"camera";s:0:"";s:7:"caption";s:0:"";s:17:"created_timestamp";s:1:"0";s:9:"copyright";s:0:"";s:12:"focal_length";s:1:"0";s:3:"iso";s:1:"0";s:13:"shutter_speed";s:1:"0";s:5:"title";s:0:"";s:11:"orientation";s:1:"0";s:8:"keywords";a:0:{}}}
        )

    [_imagify_optimization_level] => Array
        (
            [0] => 0
        )

    [_imagify_data] => Array
        (
            [0] => a:2:{s:5:"sizes";a:10:{s:4:"full";a:4:{s:7:"success";b:1;s:13:"original_size";i:3959128;s:14:"optimized_size";i:230270;s:7:"percent";d:94.180000000000007;}s:9:"thumbnail";a:4:{s:7:"success";b:1;s:13:"original_size";i:6733;s:14:"optimized_size";i:6316;s:7:"percent";d:6.1900000000000004;}s:6:"medium";a:4:{s:7:"success";b:1;s:13:"original_size";i:15454;s:14:"optimized_size";i:14663;s:7:"percent";d:5.1200000000000001;}s:5:"large";a:4:{s:7:"success";b:1;s:13:"original_size";i:52959;s:14:"optimized_size";i:50602;s:7:"percent";d:4.4500000000000002;}s:9:"wbhm-icon";a:4:{s:7:"success";b:1;s:13:"original_size";i:3012;s:14:"optimized_size";i:2789;s:7:"percent";d:7.4000000000000004;}s:13:"wbhm-featured";a:4:{s:7:"success";b:1;s:13:"original_size";i:36198;s:14:"optimized_size";i:34651;s:7:"percent";d:4.2699999999999996;}s:20:"wbhm-featured-square";a:4:{s:7:"success";b:1;s:13:"original_size";i:19287;s:14:"optimized_size";i:18368;s:7:"percent";d:4.7599999999999998;}s:18:"wbhm-featured-home";a:4:{s:7:"success";b:1;s:13:"original_size";i:32021;s:14:"optimized_size";i:30576;s:7:"percent";d:4.5099999999999998;}s:22:"wbhm-featured-carousel";a:4:{s:7:"success";b:1;s:13:"original_size";i:25400;s:14:"optimized_size";i:24205;s:7:"percent";d:4.7000000000000002;}s:14:"post-thumbnail";a:4:{s:7:"success";b:1;s:13:"original_size";i:5680;s:14:"optimized_size";i:5311;s:7:"percent";d:6.5;}}s:5:"stats";a:3:{s:13:"original_size";i:4155872;s:14:"optimized_size";i:417751;s:7:"percent";d:89.950000000000003;}}
        )

    [_imagify_status] => Array
        (
            [0] => success
        )

    [_media_credit] => Array
        (
            [0] => Mary Scott Hodgin
        )

    [_navis_media_credit_org] => Array
        (
            [0] =>  WBHM
        )

    [_navis_media_can_distribute] => Array
        (
            [0] => 
        )

)
1616985621 
1547805753

Alabamians, along with millions of people in many parts of the world, are getting ready for a show Sunday night. There will be a total lunar eclipse. Some call it a ‘super blood wolf moon.’ David Weigel, director of the Christenberry Planetarium at Samford University, says the event is exciting, but he would not use that name.

“It is billed as a ‘super blood wolf moon,'” he says, “which is all sorts of nonsense.”

Weigel has a different idea.

“Maybe the more exciting term would be perigee syzygy,” he says. “That would be the scientific term for this.”

In less scientific language, this eclipse features what is called a super moon. The moon will appear slightly bigger because it will be around its closest point to earth. This weekend’s event is also a total eclipse, so the sun, earth and moon are in perfect alignment. The earth blocks direct sunlight from reaching the moon. Weigel says the light that does hit the moon is bent through the earth’s atmosphere.

“So it’s as if you have all of the sunsets of the earth shining on the moon at the same time and that turns it red,” Weigel says.

That red tint is why some people are calling it a “blood moon.” A “wolf moon” is the name sometimes given to the full moon in January.

Call it a super blood wolf moon or perigee syzygy. Either way, check it out in the night sky this Sunday. The total eclipse will last a little over an hour, starting just after 10:40 PM. In Birmingham, there will be public viewing parties at Samford University and Oak Mountain State Park.

The next total lunar eclipse will happen in May of 2021.

 

BSC’s Daniel Coleman talks about his years-long effort to save the school and what happens next.

After the news that Birmingham-Southern College is closing, we sat down with the school’s president, Daniel Coleman.

IVF could help her start the family she wants. Will Alabama’s personhood law derail it?

Despite a law meant to protect IVF in Alabama, patients and advocates worry the protections won’t hold — and warn of future attacks on reproductive rights.

Struggling Birmingham-Southern College says it will close at end of May

The College Board of Trustees voted unanimously to close the longtime institution, officials announced in a news release. The announcement came after legislation, aimed at securing a taxpayer-backed loan for the 168-year-old private college, had recently stalled in the Alabama Statehouse.

What happens when a rural hospital shuts its doors? Look to Pickens County

Residents in the west Alabama county warn that the lack of emergency care can have deadly consequences. It's a fate that could befall a growing number of rural communities.

What issues are driving you to the polls this year?

What issues are top of mind as you head to the polls this year? What do you want the candidates to be talking about?

Q&A: A bad deal made Jackson’s water problems worse. It wasn’t the only Mississippi city harmed

Reporter Sarah Fowler talks about her investigation that found at least eight Mississippi cities were harmed by deals over faulty smart water meters.

More Front Page Coverage