Super blue blood moon — and eclipse — as seen from SLO County and beyond

San Luis Obispo County and people throughout California had some of the best viewing for the lunar trifecta called the super blue blood moon early Wednesday morning.

NASA said this moon is special for these reasons:

▪  It’s the third in a series of “supermoon” for 2018, when the moon is closer to Earth in its orbit and about 14 percent brighter than usual.

According to The Associated Press: “The moon will actually be closest to Earth on Tuesday — just over 223,000 miles (359,000 kilometers). That’s about 1,500 miles (2,400 kilometers) farther than the supermoon on Jan. 1. Midway through Wednesday’s eclipse, the moon will be even farther away — 223,820 miles (360,200 kilometers) — but still within unofficial supermoon guidelines.”

▪  It’s also the second full moon of the month, known as a “blue moon.”

▪  Then this super blue moon passed through Earth’s shadow to give viewers a total lunar eclipse that began just before 4 a.m. And while the moon is in the Earth’s shadow, it will take on a reddish tint. That’s known as a “blood moon.”

“I’m calling it the Super Bowl of moons,” lunar scientist Noah Petro said earlier this week from NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland.

Here are photos — from SLO County and beyond — of the rare cosmic show last seen 150 years ago.

(We want to see your photos of this rare event! Send them to us here: http://www.sanluisobispo.com/submit-photo/.)

The Sacramento Bee and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

This story was originally published January 31, 2018 at 5:59 AM with the headline "Super blue blood moon — and eclipse — as seen from SLO County and beyond."