The Supermoon Eclipse: What is it?

Bear with me: I’m digging back into my Astronomy 101 course all those years ago at the University Of Michigan for this post. {Bless you Professor Sears!}

The stars have {literally} aligned for something special: On September 27, over half of planet Earth will be treated to a supermoon lunar eclipse. 

First, what’s a supermoon? A supermoon is the name for a full or new moon when it is the closest distance or ‘approach’ to the Earth during orbit. In astronomical terms, this is also known as a moon being at perigee. A moon at perigee appears up to 14% larger in the sky and there are on average 4-6 supermoons a year.

Remind me again what a lunar eclipse is? A lunar eclipse occurs when the Earth’s shadow blocks the sun’s light and that light is then reflected off the moon. Or: Only when the sun, moon and Earth are perfectly in line. There are 3 types of lunar eclipses – the one on September 27 will be a total lunar eclipse.

Is this also a blood moon? ‘Blood moon’ isn’t an astronomical term but it describes the way a moon looks when the red from part of the Earth’s shadow – or prenumbra – is reflected on the moon’s surface. So yes, there will be times during this event where the moon looks red.

Anything else? It’s also a Harvest Moon since this full moon occurs the closest to the Fall Equinox.

So if you’re looking for an all-inclusive name for this rare event, it’s the Super-Blood-Harvest Total Lunar Eclipse Moon of 2015. Trying saying that 10x fast.

The supermoon event will be visible for virtually everyone in North America. And good news is you don’t have to stay up late either: All but far Western states will be able to see it in the evening sky {exact time for Eastern Time Zone is around 8:11pm on Sunday, September 27}. Binoculars and telescopes not required.

Oh and next chance of seeing a Super-Blood-Harvest-Total Lunar Eclipse Moon? 2033. So get out there.