Super Moon Lunar Eclipse is happening on 27-Sep-2015.

This weekend, the Moon will provide a big, bloody show for those looking up into the night sky. A total lunar eclipse — sometimes referred to as a blood moon due to the Moon’s dark red glow — is scheduled to begin at 9:11pm ADT on Sunday.

[Watch the Lunar Eclipse live here …]

But this eclipse is particularly special, because it’s happening on a night when the Moon will also be a supermoon. That’s when a full moon occurs on the same night of the Moon’s perigee, or the time when the Moon is closest to Earth. The Moon has an elliptical orbit around our planet, so its distance from Earth doesn’t stay the same. When at perigee, the Moon looks up to 14 percent larger and 30 percent brighter than it does when it’s at apogee (its farthest point from Earth). Continue reading Super Moon Lunar Eclipse happening this Sunday →

A total lunar eclipse following the so-called supermoon will occur on September 27 bringing the rare phenomenon of four consecutive total eclipses – known as a “tetrad” – to an end.

Late in the evening of September 27 the moon will venture very close by our planet and appear much brighter and bigger than usual. After that the supermoon will be completely eclipsed, since the Earth will stand directly between the moon and the sun. After about an hour and a half the celestial body will become visible again.

As a rule, total eclipses do not have a specific order of occurrence. However, when four total eclipses happen in a row in an approximately six month interval, it is called a lunar tetrad (from the Greek word for “four”). Astronomers have calculated that the number of such tetrads varies from century to century. The current century will have eight of them, which along with the 16th, ninth, and 26th centuries will be an absolute maximum.
The next lunar eclipse tetrad is scheduled for April 25, 2032. Continue reading Super Moon Lunar Eclipse on 27-Sep-2015 →