Milwaukee area views a super blood wolf total lunar eclipse

It has been more than three years since stargazers in southern Wisconsin had glimpsed a total lunar eclipse.

So we were due.

Stargazers in the Milwaukee area got a treat Sunday night, viewing the eclipse that also was a supermoon, blood moon and wolf moon.

That means the full moon is fairly close to Earth, sports a reddish tinge and is happening during the month when Native Americans and others noticed wolves frequently braying at Earth's nearest celestial neighbor.

"It's the first total lunar eclipse we've had in a while, so that's kind of cool," said Bob Bonadurer, director of the Milwaukee Public Museum's Daniel M. Soref National Geographic Dome Theater & Planetarium.

The "super blood wolf moon" total eclipse started in Milwaukee at 10:41 p.m.and hit totality at 11:12 p.m., when the sun, moon and Earth aligned perfectly and Earth's shadow covered the entire moon.

The total lunar eclipse coincides with 2019's first full moon, sometimes called a wolf moon, echoing back to when people named moons for features associated with the seasons. And total lunar eclipses are also known as blood moons because of the ocher or scarlet color that occurs 10 to 20 minutes before totality.

"It's the same reason our sunrises and sunsets are red and orange — the sun's light is being refracted and dispersed by our atmosphere into a rainbow of colors but we can only see the red," said Bonadurer.

The moon travels on an elliptical orbit so it's sometimes farther or nearer to Earth. When it's closest to Earth, it's called a supermoon; supermoons happen two or three times a year. But although it veered closer to Earth Sunday night, it didn't seem that much bigger to Earthlings' eyes.

The last total lunar eclipse seen in Milwaukee was on Sept. 27, 2015. Though there will be a partial lunar eclipse July 16 this year, the next total lunar eclipse won't happen until May 26, 2021. But that one won't be seen in its entirety in Wisconsin.

We'll have to wait until May 16, 2022, for the next total lunar eclipse that can be seen from Wisconsin.

Those who traveled away from city lights likely got an even better show.

"The moon acts like a big streetlight. When it gets eclipsed, the stars come out and it's just a magical sky that you don't really get in the city," said Bonadurer. "That's a heavenly sight."