Rare supermoon-eclipse happening late Sunday night

The Blood Moon Lunar Eclipse in 1492 marked Spain’s expulsion of the Jews, the 1948 eclipse heralded the establishment of the State of Israel, and the 1967 eclipse marked the Six Day War.

“Because the orbit of the moon is not a ideal 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. Although still about 220,000 miles away, this full moon will look bigger and brighter than usual. The Earth’s shadow covers the moon and the sun’s light is refracted onto the moon’s surface, which creates a red colour, giving rise to the “Blood Moon” nickname.

On Sunday, there is going to be a supermoon and a total lunar eclipse, and sky gazers will be in for a celestial treat while looking up at the moon. What is uncommon is for a total lunar eclipse to coincide with a Supermoon.

Spectators of all ages are invited to join the St. Charles County Parks and Recreation Department and the Astronomical Society of Eastern Missouri to view the rare eclipse at Broemmelsiek Park in Wentzville, Mo.

Showtime on the U.S. East Coast is 10:11 p.m.

Many stargazers, professional and amateur alike, dislike the term “supermoon”, noting the visible difference between a moon and supermoon is slight to all but the most faithful observers.

According to USA Today, Alan MacRobert of Sky and Telescope magazine, said: “That red light shining onto the moon is sunlight that has skimmed and bent through Earth’s atmosphere: that is, from all the sunrises and sunsets that ring the world at any given moment”.

The National Weather Service forecast for Portland, as of late Wednesday afternoon, calls for a slight chance of showers with cloudy skies on Sunday evening.

The 21st century will see eight of these tetrads, an uncommonly good run. A lunar eclipse is safe to view without eye protection, unlike the solar eclipse that Oregon will experience in 2017.

“When the rhythms line up, you might get three to four eclipses in a row or a Supermoon and an eclipse happening”.