想看“超级蓝血月”，必知三点！快来围观

Set your alarm clocks, sky watchers: There’s a total lunar eclipse coming in the wee hours of Wednesday morning and you don’t want to miss it.

天文爱好者们，设置好你们的闹钟吧：周三的凌晨会有一次月全食等着你，相信你不会想错过这个千载难逢的机会的。

Why this one is special

为什么这次月全食那么特殊呢？

Wednesday morning’s lunar eclipse is special for three reasons.：

此次月全食比较特殊，有以下三个原因：

First of all, it’s the first lunar eclipse since September of 2015. Those of us on the West Coast are in a prime position to see it — as long as we wake up before 6:07 a.m.

首先，这是自2015年9月以后的第一次月全食，而住在西海岸的我们，有着最佳观赏位置，前提是，只要我们能在凌晨6点零7分起床。

Second, the eclipse will occur during what has come to be known as a “super moon,” which means that the moon is closer to the Earth than usual and therefore bigger and brighter than average.

其次，这次月全食还伴随着“超级月亮”，也就是说，月亮将会离地球最近，因此会比平常更大更亮。

Our moon follows an elliptical path on its monthly journey around our planet. On average, it is 238,900 miles from the Earth, but it can get as close as 225,800 miles or as far as 252,000 miles.

月球围绕地球公转的路径是椭圆型，月球离地球的平均距离是238,900英里（约384,472公里），但最近可达225,800英里（约363,390公里），最远可达252,000英里（405,554公里）远。

Wednesday’s eclipse will occur just 27 hours after the moon hits the point on its orbit that brings it closest to the Earth. That means that the eclipsed moon will appear about 6% bigger than an average moon when it moves into the Earth’s shadow.

在月球运行到其轨道的顶端，也就是离地球最近的地方，大概27小时之后，周三的月全食也正好形成。这就意味着，当月球进入到地球的阴影中时，月全食将会比平日的月亮大将近6%。

Finally, the eclipse occurs on what has come to be known as the “blue moon,” which means it is the second full moon of the month.

最后，它还伴随“蓝色血月”，也就是说，这将是这个月第二次圆月。

The Schedule

时间表

The celestial show technically begins at 2:51 a.m. PST, when the moon moves into the pale outer shadow of the Earth, known as the penumbra. But if you want to maximize your sleep, consider getting up at 3:48 a.m. instead. That’s when the “umbral eclipse” begins. At this stage, the moon starts to move into the deep shadow of the Earth, turning its face a deep, rusty red.

此次天空盛景将会在太平洋标准时间凌晨2点51分发生，那时，月亮就开始进入地球的阴影中，被成为半影。如果你想多睡会儿，也可以在凌晨3点48分起床。那时，该影食刚刚开始，在这个阶段，月亮开始不断深入到地球的阴影中，月亮颜色也开始变深，显示成铁锈红色。

Totality, when the full face of the moon is in the Earth’s shadow, begins at 4:51 a.m. and ends at 6:07 a.m. If you want to see the eclipse, but you don’t feel like you need to see ALL of it, you might just take a quick peek at the sky sometime during that window.

最终，月亮全部进入地球的阴影中，这个过程开始于凌晨4点51分，并在6点零7分结束。如果你想看月全食，但并不想看整个过程，这期间，你可以抽空观察一下天空。

The moon sets at 6:54 a.m. After that, you won’t be able to see anything. If you live on the East Coast, your best bet is to look up at 6:45 a.m. local time and watch for the Earth’s shadow to creep across the face of the moon at 6:48 a.m. EST.

月亮将在6点54分落山，之后，你就什么也看不到了。如果你住在东海岸，你只能在6点45分，看看天空，碰碰运气。当地看月全食的时间是，太平洋标准时间6点48分。

Wait, the moon will turn red?

什么？月亮会变红？.

That’s right! The moon never appears completely black during a lunar eclipse. That’s because some light continues to pass through the Earth’s atmosphere, even when our planet is completely covering the sun from the point of view of the moon.

是的！在月全食中，月亮从来不会显现成全黑的，这是因为，总会有光持续透过地球大气层，即使是从月球上看，地球也已经完全挡住了太阳。

“Molecules in the Earth’s atmosphere scatter the blue photons more than red photons,” said Tammy Smecker-Hane, a professor of physics and astronomy at UC Irvine. “A lot of the red photons go directly through our atmosphere and hit the moon, while the blue ones get scattered in all different directions.”

加州大学湾尔分校的天文物理学教授塔米.斯迈克海恩称，比起红光，地球大气层中的分子更容易散射蓝光。大量的红光穿过地球大气层，射向月球，而蓝光则被散射。

In fact, if you stood on the moon and looked at the Earth during a total lunar eclipse, you would see the planet as a black sphere with a ring of reddish-orange light all around it. This is the light of all the sunrises and sunsets on Earth.The light from those sunsets and sunrises is what is lighting up the moon during a total eclipse.

实际上，在月全食的时候，如果你站在月球，看向地球，你将会看到地球是一个黑色的球体，但带有橘红色的光环，这些光是地球上的日升日落。正是这些日升日落的光线，在月全食时点亮了月亮。

So, with that in mind, set your alarm and look up Wednesday morning. I guarantee it will be cool.

记住这些，定好闹钟，在周三早晨抬头仰望天空，我保证，你会被惊艳到。