Skygazers were treated to a rare astronomical event Monday when a swollen “supermoon” and lunar eclipse combined for the first time in decades, showing Earth’s satellite bathed in blood-red light. It was a bad night to have clouds obscuring the view, as the last total eclipse that had these qualities occurred in 1982, and the next won’t happen until 2033.
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That’s when the moon passes directly behind the Earth into its shadow.
Astronomy Ireland have described it as “perhaps the biggest event in the sky of this decade for Ireland”.
Stargazers are getting a double celestial treat when a total lunar eclipse combines with a so-called supermoon.
The eclipse already will have started when the moon rises above the horizon about 8:40 p.m. or even a little earlier. “Today’s moon in the evening and night sky is five per cent bigger and around 12 per cent brighter than the average full moon”, said Dr Debiprosad Duari, director of M P Birla Planetarium, Kolkata. “It’s always interesting to see“, he said.
As part of the eclipse, the moon will also turn a reddish-orange color – a phenomenon some like to call a “blood moon”. On Monday, the moon’s elliptical orbit will bring it about 50,000 kilometers closer to the Earth than when it is at its farthest point. This weekend’s eclipse also marks the end of a tetrad, or series of four total lunar eclipses set six months apart, starting in April 2014.
The photo was taken over Kings Worthy during the Lunar Eclipse.
Singaporeans missed out on the much talked about Supermoon that was visible from the American, European, African, West Asian and the east Pacific continents.
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The last time this happened was in 1982. The Moon completely entered the umbra at 10:11 p.m., and peaked at 10:47 p.m, according to the USA space agency NASA.
