Super moon illuminates sky, will not occur again until 2033

Stargazers in the state tonight were treated to a rare celestial event: a full so-called supermoon combined with a lunar eclipse, which left the moon shrouded in an eerie red glow. A total lunar eclipse coinciding with a “supermoon” hasn’t happened for 33 years, and won’t be repeated again for another 18 years.

The Earth’s shadow will start making its way across the moon at 6:11 p.m. Belize time. 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.

Supermoon takes place when the satellite is 31,000 miles nearer to Earth at its closest point called perigee compared to the most distant point (apogee).

The event occurred on the U.S. East Coast at 10:11 p.m. EDT (0211 GMT) and last about an hour.

Young said the convergence of a supermoon and lunar eclipse is rare.

The moon is full and moves into the shadow of the Earth.

In fact, astronomers say the last time a supermoon lunar eclipse was documented was back in 1982. As sunlight passes through our atmosphere, the green up to the violet portion of the light spectrum is, essentially, filtered out (higher frequencies, shorter wavelengths).

The spectacle began to unfold from 1.10am in the United Kingdom, with the “total” phase – when the moon is completely in shadow – lasting from 3.11am to 4.24am.

People across the world have witnessed an uncommon lunar phenomena known as the “supermoon”. It just appears lightly bigger in the sky. January, February and March’s new moons were supermoons and full moons in September and October will also be supermoons.