Total eclipse of the – moon

September 24, 2015

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Will coincide with a ‘Supermoon’

**A PHOTOGRAPH CAPTURING a total lunar eclipse. (Photo courtesy of Johnny Horne, AP)**

It has not happened in 32 years. And it won’t happen again until 2033 – 18 years from now.

What is it?

This Sunday evening, September 27, a total lunar eclipse will coincide with a “Supermoon.” It is uncommon for a total lunar eclipse to coincide with a Supermoon. There have been just five such events since 1900 (in 1910, 1928, 1946, 1964 and 1982), says NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration).

A lunar eclipse occurs when the Earth is between the full moon and the sun. The moon does not make its own light; it reflects the light it receives from the sun. During a lunar eclipse, the moon appears less and less bright as sunlight is blocked by the Earth’s shadow. A total lunar eclipse happens when the full moon passes through the darkest part of Earth’s shadow – the umbra. As this totality approaches, sunlight reaches the moon indirectly and is refracted around the “edges” of Earth, through Earth’s atmosphere. Because of this, almost all colors – except red – are “filtered” out, and the eclipsed moon appears reddish or dark brown. This filtering is caused by particulates in the Earth’s atmosphere. When there have been a lot of fires and/or volcanic eruptions, lunar eclipses will appear darker and redder. This eerie – but harmless – effect has earned the phenomenon the nickname “blood moon.”

And a Supermoon means that the moon will look a bit bigger than is usually d0es – about 14% larger than normal – since it is a little bit closer to the Earth than usual.

Weather permitting, you can see the Supermoon after nightfall, and the eclipse will cast it into shadow beginning at 7:11 p.m. CDT (Central Daylight Savings Time). The total eclipse starts at 9:11 p.m. CDT, peaking at 9:47 p.m. CDT.The total eclipse will start at 9:11 CDT Sunday evening and will last one hour and 11 minutes. It will be visible across North and South America, Europe, Africa, and parts of West Asia and the eastern Pacific.

You don’t need special glasses or gizmos to view it, unlike a solar eclipse, so feel free to stare directly at the moon. Binoculars or a telescope would improve the view.

This is the last total lunar eclipse visible anywhere on Earth until 2018. Americans will actually see a total solar eclipse (in August 2017) before the next total lunar eclipse.

Watch NASA’s live stream at http://www.ustream.tv/channel/nasa-msfc from 7 p.m. until at least 10:30 p.m. CDT broadcast from Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, with a live feed from the Griffith Observatory in Los Angeles, California; the Adler Planetarium in Chicago, Illinois; Fernbank Observatory in Atlanta, Georgia and other locations across the United States. The live feed is an alternative for those experiencing less-than-optimal weather or light-polluted night skies. Mitzi Adams, a NASA solar physicist at Marshall will discuss the eclipse and answer questions from Twitter. To ask a question, use #askNASA.

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Total eclipse of the – moon

Will coincide with a ‘Supermoon’