4 Lunar Events Are Happening in January. Here’s How to Witness Them All at Once

Brace yourselves, star gazers: A "super blood wolf moon eclipse" is coming, and if that name's not enough to make you second-guess everything you *thought* you knew about la luna, you're not alone.

So, what the heck is this "super blood wolf moon eclipse" (besides the ultimate tongue-tier, obviously)? Well, it's actually four separate lunar events occurring all at once, on January 20 and 21, 2019. 

This year, we'll get a total lunar eclipse of a super blood wolf moon on late Sunday, January 20 until early Monday, January 21. The "super moon" part indicates the moon will be a full moon and at its closest point of orbit to earth (called the "perigree") at around the same time, making it look bigger and brighter than usual.

The "blood moon" aspect is just the coppery hue the moon will take on during this time due to particles in the atmosphere being refracted by the tiny amount of sunlight that's still present during the lunar eclipse.

Finally, the "wolf moon" term comes from the Native Americans' expression for every first full moon of January, according to the Old Farmer's Almanac.

And just in case you thought this occurrence was celestially over-hyped, it's actually pretty rare. The next total lunar eclipse won't occur 'til 2021.

Permission to howl at the (super blood wolf) moon (for keeping us up on a school night): granted.