SUPERMOON SUNDAY!!!!!!!
Mark your calendars for Sunday, September 27th! It has an event not seen since 1982
and not again until 2033!
Go outside and look up at the Moon: Blood Moon totality is from 10:11 PM to
11:23 PM (“maximum totality” is at 10:47 PM) for the USA east coast states.
Why so SUPER? The Moon has an orbit that is not perfectly circular, so sometimes it is closer to
the Earth (perigee), appearing brighter and larger; and sometime it is further from the Earth
(apogee), appearing fainter and smaller. Actual difference in distance is just over 25,000 miles.
When the Full Moon is at perigee at the same time as the Earth passes between the Moon and
the Sun, everyone on the night side of the Earth is treated to a Supermoon Lunar Eclipse!!!
Here’s the lineup as seen NOT to scale, in space:
The penumbra is the lighter shadow; that starts at sundown for us. When the Moon moves into
the umbra or darker shadow of the Earth, totality begins. The “blood” red color of the Moon
during totality is due to the refraction of sunlight that passes through the Earth’s atmosphere. It
can range from a dull gray to a scarlet red shadow depending on our atmospheric conditions.
THINGS TO DO WHILE YOU’RE OUT THERE!
1. How big does the Moon appear? If you held a common object at arm’s length, what
would exactly cover the Moon? A quarter – nickel – dime – pea? Guess what – without
the glare, the Sun appears the same size as the full Moon! The Sun is 400 times bigger
than the Moon but the Sun is 400 times further away.
2. The dark areas, called mare, are where ancient lava flows on the Moon. Can you find the
huge dark one on the left? It’s called the Ocean of Storms and toward the bottom of
that feature is where Apollo 12 made their accurate, on-target landing. The distance
across the Ocean of Storms compares to us traveling from NYC to Denver, CO.
3. A small round hard-to-see mare on the right side edge of the Moon is the Sea of Crisis.
The larger mare just to its left is the Sea of Tranquility – where we first landed men on
the Moon: Apollo 11 on July 20, 1969.
4. During the lunar eclipse, the sky will become darker so you can see some more stars: if
you can find three bright stars that form a huge triangle shape overhead – that’s the
Summer Triangle asterism, made up of Vega (that really bright one), Deneb and Altair.
5. The Big Dipper asterism (pattern) will be low in the north sky but the big “W” shape of
constellation Cassiopeia will be high and near the Summer Triangle. You can get a free
sky map to help you find even more stars and constellations by going to
www.skymaps.com .
ALWAYS REMEMBER IT’S MORE FUN TO BE LOOKING UP! ENJOY! (from Teri Bellows, VHS)