What you need to know to see the super blood wolf moon in Vancouver

Vancouver’s H.R. Macmillan Space Centre is gearing up for Sunday night’s rare super blood wolf moon.

The phenomenon is a combination of a larger-than-usual looking January full moon that will turn red, thanks to a lunar eclipse.

“It’s a supermoon, which means when the moon is in its orbit around the earth,” explained space centre astronomer Kat Kelly, “there’s a closest point to earth and a furthest away point from earth, and tonight is its closest point.”

“It’s also a lunar eclipse, and that’s the blood moon part, because what you’re going to see this evening is the moon will turn red, and that’s because the moon goes through the moon’s shadow … and as the moon goes through the earth’s shadow it turns red.

“And the wolf part is just because this is the first full moon in January,” Kelly said. “So historically and culturally, the first full moon in January, people would have heard wolves howling in hunger.”

The combination of all three events is so rare it’s only happened three times in the last century, Kelly said.

Even the combination of a lunar eclipse and a supermoon together won’t happen again until the 2030s, she added.

WATCH: Total lunar eclipse, ‘super blood wolf moon’ a treat for southern Alberta skygazers

1:30 Total lunar eclipse, ‘super blood wolf moon’ a treat for southern Alberta skygazers

To mark the event and offer the public a chance to engage with space science, the space centre is holding a special event Sunday night.

The planetarium will be open, with a special set of programming focused on Earth’s near-neighbour, including a show about lunar eclipses and new information and images from the Chinese Chang’e-4 probe and rover.

The Royal Canadian Astronomical Society will also be on hand with telescopes and volunteers.

And the space centre’s observatory with its larger telescope will be open to the public.

“So if you’ve seen the moon from a telescope before, tonight is the night,” said Kelly.

Of course, you don’t need a telescope to see the super blood wolf moon — provided the weather cooperates, which looks likely.

Kelly said from the Metro Vancouver area, the lunar eclipse should begin around 7:30 p.m., reach its peak at 9:12 p.m., then fade until about 10:40 p.m.