Moon comes close to earth; India to miss total lunar eclipse

REUTERS/Charles PlatiauOn Sunday, September 27, the world saw its first supermoon lunar eclipse in 30 years.

The last time a supermoon coincided with a lunar eclipse was in 1982 and the event will not be repeated until 2033.

The total “supermoon” lunar eclipse, also known as a “blood moon” is one that appears bigger and brighter than usual as it reaches the point in its orbit that is closest to Earth. Combine that with a lunar eclipse, when the Earth is directly between the sun and the full moon, giving the moon a reddish tint.

It’s going to be a spectacular show when the moon passes through the Earth’s shadow Sunday evening.

It may have been the wee small hours of the morning, but that did not stop skywatchers across the north west getting up to see the Super Blood Moon.

“People are lining up to use telescopes, but I brought my own binoculars”, the prepared Chao said.

NASA photographers in three different cities snapped unbelievable views of the total lunar eclipse. The total eclipse started at 10:11 p.m. EDT (0211 GMT) and lasted for 72 minutes, in a dramatic event visible to people throughout the Americas, Europe, Africa, western Asia and the eastern Pacific Ocean region.

This happens because the red light of the sun’s white light gets least scattered by the atmosphere and falls on the moon during an eclipse making it look blood red, he added.

FOX 32 viewers sent in their view of the supermoon.