Blue supermoon dazzles skywatchers in Toronto

The second full moon of January rose early this morning to plenty of oohs, aahs and snapping cameras around the GTA.

A post shared by yryzhik (@yryzhik) on Jan 31, 2018 at 6:15am PST

Dubbed "extra special" by NASA, this wasn't just any full moon. It was a rare, super blue blood moon – the first celestial event of its kind in more than 150 years.

A post shared by © Penny Taylor 🇨🇦♒️ (@penshoots) on Jan 30, 2018 at 4:44pm PST

You see, a blue moon is what celestial buffs call the second full moon to rise in a month. We already saw one full moon – a super "wolf moon" rise this month on New Year's Day.

A blood moon gets its name from the eclipse part of the equation, as an eclipsed moon usually appears redder than usual thanks to how our atmosphere blends with light.

A post shared by Susan P (@su.per17) on Jan 30, 2018 at 9:01pm PST

Sadly, intense cloud coverage made it nearly impossible to see the eclipse when it peaked betwen 7:15 a.m. and 7:35 a.m. 

Up early and dressed warm for the #superbluebloodmoon. I missed #lunareclipse totality due to the clouds. But I did catch the #moon peeking through shortly before. The “blood” of the moon comes from the sun shining through the atmosphere and projecting on to the moon.

A post shared by Geoff Mac (@gmacdon) on Jan 31, 2018 at 6:26am PST

Still, all is not lost. If skies are clear tonight, the supermoon itself will still be visible.

If you're dead set on catching a super blue blood moon, you'll have another chance in about 10 years on Dec. 31, 2028. After that, space.com says we'll see another in 2037.