Pair of supermoons, including a rare 'super blue blood moon,' will kick off 2018

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Friday, December 29, 2017
Pair of supermoons will kick off 2018
Supermoons will be visible on January 1 and 31 in 2018.

The new year will ring in with a pair of amazing celestial sights, with supermoons that will be visible on the first and last of January.

According to NASA, "A supermoon is a Moon that is full when it is also at or near its closest point in its orbit around Earth."

The first supermoon of 2018 will be visible on Jan. 1.

The second supermoon of the year, visible on Jan. 31, will be an exceptional sight known as a "super blue blood moon."

The supermoon at the end of the month will be the second full moon of the month, which is called a blue moon. The Jan. 31 supermoon will also feature a total lunar eclipse which will be visible western North America to eastern Asia.

Totally eclipsed moons are sometimes referred to as a "blood moon," which is why the end of the month supermoon earned the special designation of "super blue blood moon."