By themselves, a lunar eclipse, a supermoon and a blue moon aren’t that uncommon. But it’s rare for all three to happen at the same time as they did the morning of Jan. 31.
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Lunar eclipses happen, on average, about every six months somewhere on Earth according to Sally Kilburg, South Okanagan vice-president for the Okanagan chapter of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada.
A blue moon, the second full moon in a month, isn’t quite as common, but is still a regular occurrence, as is a supermoon, marking the point when the moon is closest to Earth in its elliptical orbit.
Having all three happening together is anything but regular.
“I don’t know of another instance. I would have to go digging through astronomical information to see if there is anything else out there,” said Ken Tapping, an astronomer with the Dominion Radio Astrophysical Observatory near Penticton.