Skygazers are in for the double spectacle on September 27th of a swollen "supermoon" bathed in the blood-red light of a total eclipse. This spectacular celestial show, which is visible from the America, Europe, Africa, west Asia and the east Pacific, will be the result of the Sun, Earth and a larger-than-life, extra-bright Moon lining up for just over an hour from 0211 GMT.
The last such event, when a total lunar eclipse coincided with a ‘Supermoon’ occurred 33 years ago and it has happened only four times in the last 115 years. A 'super blood moon' happens during a lunar eclipse and when the moon is at its closest point to the Earth in its orbit.
The next will not be until 2033.
"It will be quite exciting and especially dramatic," said astronomer Sam Lindsay of the Royal Astronomical Society in London. "It'll be brighter than usual, bigger than usual."
“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,†NASA scientist Noah Petro said. "That almost instant change tells us about the upper few centimetres of the surface. We're getting a very fine, unique measurement of the uppermost surface," Petro said.
“There’s no physical difference in the moon,†Petro added. “It just appears slightly bigger in the sky. It’s not dramatic, but it does look larger. It’s about 14 percent larger than normal,†NASA reports. "It's about 14 percent larger than normal,†NASA reports. “What is uncommon is 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),†NASA said.
There is no need of 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.
By Premji
