The Moon will pass through the Earth's shadow as above. Unlike Solar eclipses, where the Moon casts a shadow on the Earth for a few minutes (and requires special filters to safely view), totality will last for over two hours, and can be viewed naked eye.

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On September 27, a rare combination of supermoon and a lunar eclipse will grace the Earth’s skies for the first time since 1982.

ByBeatrice Gitau, StaffSeptember 5, 2015



Sky gazers will be treated to a colorful cosmic show this fall.

On September 27, the moon will reach its full phase while also nearing its closest point to Earth in its orbit, creating views of a "supermoon."

A supermoon happens when the moon reaches its peak while it is at the closest possible distance to the earth, making the moon’s diameter appear around 14 per cent bigger and can look up to 30% brighter than usual, according to NASA.


Full moons vary in size because of the oval shape of the Moon's orbit. As the moon travels its elliptical path around Earth, it gets about 30,000 miles closer at perigee than at its farthest extreme, apogee. Full moons close to perigee seem extra big and bright.


"In practice, it's not always easy to tell the difference between a supermoon and an ordinary full moon," NASA says. "A 30 percent difference in brightness can easily be masked by clouds and haze. Also, there are no rulers floating in the sky to measure lunar diameters. Hanging high overhead with no reference points to provide a sense of scale, one full Moon looks about the same size as any other."

But this September’s supermoon will be a special one. It will also coincide with a lunar eclipse, making it a supermoon lunar eclipse – an event that has happened just five times since 1910. The last time the two events converged was in 1982 and the next time will be 2033, NASA officials said in a video.

The eclipse will last for over 3 hours.

During a total lunar eclipse, the sun, earth, and moon form a straight line. The earth blocks any direct sunlight from reaching the moon. “But the moon doesn't go completely dark during total eclipses; rather, it often turns a reddish hue because it's hit by sunlight bent by Earth's atmosphere. For this reason, total lunar eclipses are often referred to as 'blood moons,'" Space.com explains.

The eclipse will begin after sunset and will be visible from most of North America, South America, Europe, West Asia, and parts of Africa, according to Timeanddate.com.

Weather permitting sky gazers in the US will literally have front row seats – they will be treated to a striking sky show.

“People on the US East Coast and parts of Central United States will have some of the best views of the Eclipse, which will occur after moonrise and before local midnight (00:00 on September 28). At some locations in the Eastern US, the last stages of the Eclipse will occur after midnight on September 28,”

20 minutes to go, and it's overcast here. Fortunately (for me) I've seen over a half-dozen already.

Clear here. looks neat.

Good morning;

We have tall fir trees to the east of us, so we drove out to the Snohomish River valley where a better view of the Eastern sky is available.

There was one other car already there when we drove to our chosen site near the middle of the valley that is oriented mainly East-West at that point. The Cascade Mountains are fairly low on the horizon from there. One thing noticed upon arrival was the amount of haze, smoke, and humidity in the air. There was still sunlight at this point, and the Eastern horizon looked grey.

At the designated time for moonrise at our location, we really could not see anything due to the atmospheric conditions. We waited until the moon climbed higher into the sky and become more visible as it became darker, and as the the moon rose above all the haze, smoke, and humidity we had.

The moon was already in totality as it became faintly visible finally. Then I also looked through the camera with the fairly long lens on it, and noticed that the view had become "softened." That humidity got me. It was settling on the lens front surface. Oh, well.

We were supposed to have one of the better views of the red or copper coloring of the moon because of the atmosphere the sun's rays would pass through, but the seeing just was not there. We did get to see it as it was higher in the sky, but the best moments were obscured. And by that time, there were 30 other cars out there parked along the same maintenance road. It had become a popular place.

So we did get to see the "super moon lunar eclipse," but there was also some disappointment.

Enjoy;

Ralph
Latte Land, Washington