VT physicists excited for blue moon lunar eclipse Wednesday morning

BLACKSBURG, Va. (WSET) -- It's a full moon triple whammy.

For the first time in 150 years, you'll get the chance to see a blue moon lunar eclipse.

A total lunar eclipse occurs when the earth's shadow blocks the sun's light, which reflects off the moon. During a total lunar eclipse, the moon will oftentimes be a reddish color.

This event will happen overnight on Wednesday, January 31.

Because of the way the the moon passes earth's shadow, the moon will appear a little red.

Virginia Tech physicists are excited, not just because this hasn't happened in 150 years, but also because of the research it will allow.

"The question is how quickly does the face of the moon react to that, and that is what we call thermal inertia basically, so people have very sophisticated measurements now to try and see how quickly is the face of the moon reacting to that," said Nahum Arav, a professor of physics at Virginia Tech.

If you want to see the blood moon, it will be partially visible in our area around 7 a.m. Wednesday, just look to the west.