Triple treat: Supermoon, blue moon and lunar eclipse all coming to a sky near you next week - USA TODAY

Triple treat: Supermoon, blue moon and lunar eclipse all coming to a sky near you next week

Doyle Rice, USA TODAYPublished 11:26 a.m. ET Jan. 22, 2018 | Updated 3:31 p.m. ET Jan. 22, 2018

The full moon on January 31st will combine three rare lunar events for the first time in 150 years.USA TODAY

(Photo: Johnny Horne, The Fayetteville Observer via AP)

CONNECTTWEET 20LINKEDIN 2COMMENTEMAILMORE

Skywatchers will get a rare triple treat Jan. 31, with a supermoon, a blue moon and a total lunar eclipse.

How rare is the event? Even without the supermoon, it's the first blue moon total lunar eclipse in the U.S. since March 1866, less than a year after the Civil War ended, according to EarthSky.org.

A blue moon — which occur about every 2½ years — is another term for the second full moon in a single calendar month. January's first full moon occurred Jan. 1. 

Though the exact moment of this full moon is 8:37 a.m. ET Jan. 31, the moon will appear plenty full for a day or two before and after that.

However, the moon won't actually appear blue.

As for the total lunar eclipse, it will be visible early in the morning of Jan. 31 from western North America across the Pacific to eastern Asia, NASA said.

In the United States, the best view of the eclipse will be along the West Coast. For skywatchers in the central and eastern U.S., only a partial eclipse will be visible, as the moon will set before totality.

“The lunar eclipse on January 31 will be visible during moonset," said Noah Petro, a research scientist from NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center. "Folks in the eastern United States, where the eclipse will be partial, will have to get up in the morning to see it."

The eclipse will last almost 3½ hours from the beginning of the partial phase at 3:48 a.m. PT until it ends at 7:12 a.m. PT, according to Sky and Telescope. Totality lasts a generous 77 minutes, from 4:51 a.m. PT to 6:08 a.m. PT.

By that time, however, the moon will already have set in the eastern time zone.

The full moon will take on a dark, reddish appearance during the eclipse, so another word to describe it is a blood moon. Adding to the naming confusion, this full moon was also known as the "snow moon" by some Native American tribes.

Finally, a supermoon occurs when the full moon is at the closest point of its orbit to the Earth, which is also called the perigee. 

That makes the moon look extra-close and extra bright — up to 14% bigger and 30% brighter than a full moon at its farthest point from Earth, known as the apogee, NASA said.

You May Not Get Microchipped, but Experts Say Your Kids Will - CBN News Emily Jones

You May Not Get Microchipped, but Experts Say 

Your Kids Will

08-10-2017

CBN News Emily Jones

Microchip implants for everyone – experts say it isn't a matter of if, but a matter of when. 

A Wisconsin company's recent decision to give its employees the opportunity to get microchip implants in their hands sparked a national debate. 

Some people saw it as a genius idea, others viewed it as a scene straight out of a creepy sci-fi film or even a precursor to the "mark of the Beast" from the book of Revelation. 

Related

---

Pastor: Microchipping Humans Is Straight Out of Revelation

'Will There Come a Day Where People Who Prefer Not to Be Microchipped Won't Get Certain Jobs?'

Micro-chip Implants Not Science-Fiction but Now a Reality

Chipping Employees: Wisconsin Company Is First in US to Give it a Go

---

Despite the warring opinions, experts say microchip implants aren't going away any time soon. 

"It will happen to everybody," Noelle Chesley, associate professor of sociology at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, told USA Today. "But not this year, and not in 2018. Maybe not my generation, but certainly that of my kids."

Gene Munster, an investor, researcher, and technology analyst also told USA Today that microchips will become mainstream in 50 years after "we have been desensitized by social stigma."

Advocates of the microchip technology say it will add convenience to life, allowing people to breeze through airports, start cars, and buy groceries with the wave of their hand. 

However, critics are suspicious of the technology and argue that microchips can easily be hacked and personal information can be exposed. 

Some Christians say microchip implants are a clear fulfillment of the "mark of the Beast" prophesied 2,000 years ago in the biblical book of Revelation.

"I take microchipping as a form of the mark. There's many pieces of the mark, and then again, all these pieces of the mark are designed to control," Pastor Dave Doyle from Hope Christian Fellowship Church in Iowa says. "It will eventually become something that's mandatory, and for those who refuse it, you will have to deal with the authorities who don't appreciate your opinions."

However, lawmakers are already taking steps to make sure the technology does not become mandatory, at least in the workplace. 

Rep. Tina Davis (D) is introducing a bill in Pennsylvania to outlaw mandatory microchip embedding. 

"That's what we're worried about," Bran Allen, Davis' chief of staff for state, told USA Today. "If the tech is out there, what's to stop an employer from saying either you do this, or you can't work here anymore."

Several states have passed similar laws, but that hasn't assuaged many fears about the new technology.
 

Get Christian Insights!

CBN News is telling the stories other news outlets won't. Join with us in bringing a Christian perspective on today's issues concerning:

• Israel and the Middle East
• The Pro Life Movement
• Free Speech
• The Persecuted Church
• Global Terrorism and National Security

From our news bureaus in Washington, D.C., Jerusalem, and Virginia Beach, we bring you the news 24/7.

Will you stand with us for by giving a special gift today?

Become a PartnerGive a special gift

Team Israel's World Baseball Classic run ends in loss to Japan - USA TODAY

Team Israel's World Baseball Classic run ends in loss to Japan

USA TODAY SportsPublished 10:03 a.m. ET March 15, 2017 

0:04

0:15

 

Sponsor Message

Sponsor Message

CLOSE

USA TODAY Sports' Jorge Ortiz takes a look at how the major teams will fare in the second round of the World Baseball Classic. USA TODAY Sports

(Photo: Matt Roberts, Getty Images)

 45CONNECTTWEETLINKEDINCOMMENTEMAILMORE

Team Israel's surprise run into the second round of the World Baseball Classic ended Wednesday when Japan defeated the self-proclaimed Jew Crew 8-3 at Tokyo Dome.

The Israelis won their first four games of the tournament to advance to the second round, and were poised to score another upset of a baseball power Wednesday, locked in a scoreless tie with Japan through five innings. Josh Zeid pitched gallantly, giving up four hits over four scoreless innings before departing after throwing 67 pitches.

Japan, however, got to Israel's bullpen for five runs in the sixth inning, including a home run from Yoshitomo Tsutsugoh, and built the lead to 8-0 through eight innings before Israel scored three runs in the ninth.

Israel, darlings of World Baseball Classic, vows to keep 'emotional' run going

Puerto Rico upsets Dominican Republic in WBC and has blast doing so

Puerto Rico wins clash with Dominicans at World Baseball Classic

Israel finished 1-2 and in third place in Pool E, and 4-2 overall in the tournament, a significant step forward for a team that had to qualify for the WBC and was ranked 41st at the start of the tourney. The ragtag collection of mostly American-born players received plaudits from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and made their early-morning games appointment viewing for many Jews in the USA.

Advancing out of group play means the Israelis won't have to qualify for the 2021 WBC, however, and could inspire participation from other U.S.-born Jews in the major leagues.

Japan remained unbeaten in the WBC and remains the only country to advance to the semifinals in all four editions of the event. Japan won the WBC in 2006 and 2009, but lost in the 2013 semifinals to Puerto Rico.

Tunnel used by Jewish prisoners to escape Nazis found in Lithuania - Jessica Durando, USA TODAY

Tunnel used by Jewish prisoners to escape Nazis found in Lithuania

Jessica Durando, USA TODAYJune 29, 2016

(Photo: PBS)

An international research team has located a tunnel in Lithuania used by Jewish prisoners to escape Nazis during World War II, the Israel Antiquities Authority announced Wednesday.

The team from Israel, the U.S., Canada and Lithuania used mineral and oil exploration scanning technology to pinpoint the 100-foot-long tunnel located in the Ponar forest about 10 kilometers from Vilnius, Lithuania.

Since 1944, the Ponar site has held the remains of 100,000 people executed by the Nazis, including 70,000 Jews shot and buried from July 1941 through July 1944.

The prisoners dug for 76 nights using their hands, spoons and improvised tools to make the tunnel.

"As an Israeli whose family originated in Lithuania, I was reduced to tears on the discovery of the escape tunnel at Ponar. This discovery is a heartwarming witness to the victory of hope over desperation," said Jon Seligman of the Israel Antiquities Authority. "The exposure of the tunnel enables us to present, not only the horrors of the Holocaust, but also the yearning for life."

Eighty Jewish prisoners attempted an escape from the Nazi extermination pits at Ponar on April 15, 1944, the last night of Passover. About a dozen survived the trek out of the tunnel and made it to the forest and river past the camp. Eleven prisoners survived the war and gave testimonies.

"This project represents the new frontier for the study of archaeology and the Holocaust and the integration with national histories," said Richard Freund, professor of Jewish History at the University of Hartford. "Geoscience will allow testimonies of survivors—like the account of the escape through the tunnel—and many events of the Holocaust to be researched and understood in new ways for generations to come."

Israel revokes travel permits, deploys troops after attack - USA TODAY

Israel revokes travel permits, deploys troops after attack Kim Hjelmgaard, USA TODAYJune 9, 2016 (Photo: Johanna Geron, European Pressphoto Agency) Israel's military has cancelled most travel permits for Palestinians during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan and deployed more troops to the West Bank after gunmen identified by police as Palestinian cousins from Hebron killed four Israelis at a popular food market in central Tel Aviv. The attack Wednesday on the Sarona Market, located across the street from the Israeli military’s headquarters, was among the deadliest and most brazen attacks in a nine-month wave of violence. One Israeli witness, who was sitting at an upscale restaurant, tells The Jerusalem Post the attackers looked like "wealthy Italian businessmen in fancy suits and skinny ties.”  She tells The Jerusalem Post the pair had a “cold, calm look on their faces as they fired everywhere.” In response, Israel froze 83,000 permits for Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza to visit family in Israel, attend Ramadan prayers in Jerusalem or travel abroad via Israel’s Tel Aviv airport, COGAT, an Israeli defense body, said Thursday. The military also suspended Israeli work permits for 204 of the attackers’ relatives. Police identified the victims as Michael Feige, 58, a sociologist and anthropologist at Ben-Gurion University, and Ido Ben Arieh, 42, a veteran of an elite army unit who was an executive at the Coca-Cola Co.’s Israel branch, his wife, who was injured in the attack, told Israeli media. Two other victims were identified as Ilana Naveh, 39, and Mila Misheiv, 32. In a statement Thursday, colleagues at the university’s Institute for the Study of Israel and Zionism said they were “stunned by the incomprehensible loss of Feige.” “Michael was a friend, scholar and teacher,” it said, according to the Associated Press. “Above all, Michael was the incarnation of a man of reason, tolerance and peace.” As Israel convened a meeting of the diplomatic-security cabinet, new defense minister Avigdor Lieberman said he had "no intention of settling for lip service" in response to the attack, according to the newspaper Haaretz. Lieberman is leader of an ultranationalist party known for his hard-line views toward the Palestinians. Israel's military said two additional battalions made up of soldiers from infantry and special forces would go to the West Bank as part of new security measures. USA TODAY Israeli police: 4 dead in terrorist attack at Tel Aviv market COGAT said Palestinians would be prevented from leaving and entering the West Bank village of Yatta, home to the attackers, with exceptions made for humanitarian or medical cases. "A village that has terrorists leaving from its midst will pay the price," said deputy defense minister Eli Ben-Dahan, Haaretz reported. Ahmad Mussa Mahmara, the father of one of the attackers, said his son has two uncles serving life sentences in Israeli prison. “We didn’t expect this. My son is young and has been in Jordan for the past four years, and just came here for the past five months. He does not have any political affiliation,” Mahmara said. The military interrogated Mahmara Wednesday night at his home, where his son was staying. Soldiers took measurements of the home in preparation for demolishing it, the military said, a the AP reported. Israelis have been targeted by Palestinians in a wave of stabbings and shootings since the fall. At least 31 Israelis have died in these attacks and more than 200 Palestinians — the majority of them attackers, according to Israel — have been killed. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the attack a “cold blooded murder by despicable terrorists.” Hamas, the militant group that rules Gaza, welcomed the attack and said it was a "heroic operation," but did not claim responsibility for it.

A count of all attacks since 1970 that took place in Israel. A terrorist attack is defined as the threatened or actual use of illegal force and violence by a non‐state actor to attain a political, economic, religious, or social goal through fear, coercion, or intimidation.

Number of Attacks

1994

Number of Attacks

54

Source: Global Terrorism Database. 

As of 2014. Data for 1993 is not available from the source.

×

 Top Visualizations of Today

See more details ›