Supermoon combines with solar eclipse for rare celestial event

The rare coupling was seen in Canada, the United States, Europe, Africa and western Asia.

Due to the Earth’s atmosphere extending outwards to over 50 miles from the surface, when the moon is totally eclipsed by the moon there is a point of light that shines through our atmosphere.

Second, this lunar eclipse was the last in a series of four spanning two years, a phenomenon called a tetrad.

On the main menu, though, was the total lunar eclipse.

But for the sake of simplicity and at the risk of generalization, people have resorted to a more convenient name of “Blood Moon”, for no particular reason other than the fact that it appears red in color.

The next supermoon eclipse will occur in 2033.

The greatest part of the event, where the Earth’s shadow passed across the moon and turned it an eerie orange-red colour, began at around 2am and lasted up until 4am.

In Los Angeles, a large crowd filled the lawn of Griffith Observatory while many others staked tripods with telescopes around the hilltop landmark in anticipation of the rare celestial sight. Get away from city lights, and avoid long exposures, which will cause blurring, because both the Earth and the moon are moving, USA Today advises.

Lunar eclipse visible from St. Charles, Minnesota.

“It was a bummer that we couldn’t see the blood moon, but we still had fun watching the first part of the eclipse, the black shadow crossing the moon”, Dickmann said.

Observers on Earth see a moon that may be brick-coloured, rusty, blood red, or sometimes dark grey depending on the atmospheric conditions.

“God is trying to tell us something!” And that made it look particularly large in the sky. The reddish hue of all of Earth’s sunrises and sunsets are being cast upon the moon at the same time.

So-called “blood moons” have traditionally been associated with Earth-shaking events and disasters. And because it occurred days after the fall equinox, this was also the harvest moon.

“The 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.