It’s a “Supermoon” eclipse and it’s coming your way!
Sept. 25, 2015
Doug Duncan
Look! Up in the sky it’s a bird, it’s a plane, it’s a “supermoon” and it’s
disappearing. That’s because late Sunday evening for the first time in 32 years
a “supermoon” a moon that appears larger due to its close orbit to the Earth,
and a total lunar eclipse are happening at the same time. But don’t worry
about missing it, says Doug Duncan, a CU-Boulder astrophysicist and director
of the Fiske Planetarium on campus.
CUT 1 “Anybody on the night side of the Earth can see that eclipsed moon.
People can see the eclipse of the moon from home - any place that you have
a nice clear view of the eastern horizon - watch the beautiful full moon rising
and it will rise almost mostly eclipsed.” (:20)
A lunar eclipse happens when the Earth slides between the moon and the sun.
But even as the Earth’s shadow covers the moon, the moon will appear red or
orange, says Duncan.
CUT 2 “Now an eclipse of the moon is interesting because the moon looks
orange and that kind of surprises people. Why, if the moon is in our shadow,
doesn’t it just look dark? And the answer is kind of fun. (:12) A little bit of
light from the sun leaks around the edge of the Earth, passes through our
atmosphere, it bends a little bit, and still manages to hit the moon.” (:21)
And why is the moon orange or red and not blue like our atmosphere, you
might ask? There’s a simple answer to that question, says Duncan.
CUT 3 “Now everybody knows that the sky is blue although a lot of people
don’t know why. The reason the sky is blue is that when light from the sun,
which is white light, a mix of all the different colors, comes through our
atmosphere the blue light tends to scatter. (:15) So it bounces all around and
makes the sky blue but orange and red light can continue.” (:21)
And the reason it’s called a “supermoon” is because the moon’s orbit is
closest to the Earth than at other times making it appear about 10 percent
larger and 30 percent brighter.
CUT 4 “The moon’s orbit around the Earth is not a perfect circle. It’s a little bit
elliptical or egg shaped and that means sometimes the moon is closer or
farther away. And it doesn’t vary by too much – about 10 percent. But that is
something that you would notice. (:16) And so it just so happens that the
moon is on the close side and it looks a little bigger than average and that’s
happening at the time of the eclipse.” (:25)
Duncan says the eclipse will begin just as the moon crests the horizon –
around 7 p.m. - but won’t be fully eclipsed for another hour. But unlike a
solar eclipse you won’t need special glasses or gear to view it so feel free to
stare directly at the moon – although binoculars or a telescope would
improve the view.
CUT 5 “The eclipse of the moon is beautiful. It’s not intense. It can’t hurt you.
You just find a nice place out on the lawn and you watch.” (:09)
While a “supermoon” or lunar eclipse is not unusual, having them happen at
the same time is uncommon. According to NASA, there have been just five
such events since 1900. In 1910, 1928, 1946, 1964 and 1982.
This is the last total lunar eclipse visible anywhere on Earth until 2018,
according to Sky and Telescope. Americans will actually see a total solar
eclipse in August 2017 before the next total lunar eclipse.
-CU.