Make plans to watch the eastern horizon shortly before sunset on Sunday, Sept. 27.
You won’t want to miss the stunning supermoon that rises at 6:09.
The moon is making a relatively close approach to the Earth, looking a little larger than normal. It’s also a Harvest Moon — the full moon closest to the September equinox.
But wait, there’s more — you will want to keep watching. There will also be a lunar eclipse that turns the supermoon a gorgeous copper color.
Sunday’s moon completes a tetrad of lunar eclipses — the first was April 15, 2014, followed by the second on Oct. 8, 2014, the third April 4 this year and then the fourth on Sunday. While not rare, tetrads are uncommon. The next tetrad will be in 2032-2033.
Sunday’s moon rises just after it enters the Earth’s umbra where there is complete shadowing. The moon gets progressively darker as it moves farther into the umbra.
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Totality begins at 7:11 p.m., and the eclipse maximum is at 7:47 p.m. Totality ends at 8:22 p.m. when the moon starts to leave Earth’s umbra. It is completely out of the umbra at 9:26 p.m. and leaves partial shadowing in Earth’s penumbra at 10:21 p.m.
Theoretically, the moon should disappear from sight during totality, but that rarely happens. Instead the moon becomes a gorgeous copper color due to sunlight being scattered by Earth’s atmosphere and somewhat focused on the moon.
Do not miss this eclipse as its timing in early evening couldn’t be more convenient.
