Credit & Copyright: NASA's
GSFC,
David Ladd (USRA) &
Krystofer Kim (USRA)
Explanation:
Tonight a bright full Moon will fade to red.
Tonight's moon
will be particularly bright because it is reaching its fully lit phase
when it is relatively close to the Earth in its
elliptical
orbit.
In fact, by some measures of size and brightness, tonight's full Moon is designated
a
supermoon, although perhaps
the "super" is
overstated
because it will be only a few percent larger and brighter than the average full Moon.
However, our Moon will
fade to a dim red because it will also undergo a
total lunar eclipse --
an episode when the Moon becomes completely engulfed in Earth's shadow.
The faint
red color results from
blue sunlight being more strongly scattered away by the Earth's atmosphere.
Tonight's moon
can also be called a
Harvest Moon as it is the full Moon that occurs closest to the September
equinox, a time signaling crop harvest in Earth's northern
hemisphere.
Total eclipses of supermoons are relatively rare -- the last
supermoon lunar eclipse was in 1982, and the next will be in 2033.
Tonight's supermoon total eclipse will last over an hour and be
best visible from eastern
North America after sunset,
South America in the middle
of the night, and
Western Europe before
sunrise.
