Super Blood Moon Eclipse Coming Tonight
Look for a clear dark spot to camp out this evening as you'll witness an event that won't happen again until 2033.
Tonight, there will be a lunar eclipse of a full moon. But what makes this one special is that the moon will be 14 percent larger than normal and be a Blood Moon.
"Because the orbit of the moon is not a perfect circle, the moon is sometimes closer to the Earth than at other times during its orbit," said Noah Petro, deputy project scientist for the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. "When the moon is farthest away it's known as apogee, and when it's closest it's known as perigee. On Sept. 27, we're going to have a perigee full moon - the closest full moon of the year."
The last time we had a Supermoon eclipse was in 1982. We get supermoons every year, but an eclipse at the same time makes the event much rarer. The Blood Moon effect happens because the Earth's atmosphere scatters more blue light, so that the light reaching the lunar surface is predominantly red, depending on atmospheric conditions.
The eclipse, which will begin around 8:10 p.m. EST this evening and should last for about an hour and a half. If you can't get outside, NASA will be streaming the event [http://www.nasa.gov/topics/solarsystem/features/watchtheskies/live-feed-of-sundays-supermoon-eclipse.html] on NASA TV.
And just so we are clear, this Super Blood Moon eclipse does not signal the end of days and a Mormon church said so [http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/sep/27/blood-moon-apocalypse-nasa-lunar-eclipse-supermoon].
Source: NASA [http://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/nasa-scientist-sheds-light-on-rare-sept-27-supermoon-eclipse]
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Look for a clear dark spot to camp out this evening as you'll witness an event that won't happen again until 2033.
Tonight, there will be a lunar eclipse of a full moon. But what makes this one special is that the moon will be 14 percent larger than normal and be a Blood Moon.
"Because the orbit of the moon is not a perfect circle, the moon is sometimes closer to the Earth than at other times during its orbit," said Noah Petro, deputy project scientist for the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. "When the moon is farthest away it's known as apogee, and when it's closest it's known as perigee. On Sept. 27, we're going to have a perigee full moon - the closest full moon of the year."
The last time we had a Supermoon eclipse was in 1982. We get supermoons every year, but an eclipse at the same time makes the event much rarer. The Blood Moon effect happens because the Earth's atmosphere scatters more blue light, so that the light reaching the lunar surface is predominantly red, depending on atmospheric conditions.
The eclipse, which will begin around 8:10 p.m. EST this evening and should last for about an hour and a half. If you can't get outside, NASA will be streaming the event [http://www.nasa.gov/topics/solarsystem/features/watchtheskies/live-feed-of-sundays-supermoon-eclipse.html] on NASA TV.
And just so we are clear, this Super Blood Moon eclipse does not signal the end of days and a Mormon church said so [http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/sep/27/blood-moon-apocalypse-nasa-lunar-eclipse-supermoon].
Source: NASA [http://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/nasa-scientist-sheds-light-on-rare-sept-27-supermoon-eclipse]
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