Super Blood Moon Coming Sept. 27

Image by Joel Tonyan

On the evening of Sept. 27, the moon will once again become immersed in the Earth's shadow, resulting in a total lunar eclipse — the fourth such event in the last 17 months. As with all lunar eclipses, the region of visibility for Sunday's blood-moon lunar eclipse will encompass more than half of our planet. Nearly 1 billion people in the Western Hemisphere, nearly 1.5 billion throughout much of Europe and Africa and perhaps another 500 million in western Asia will be able to watch as the Harvest Full Moon becomes a shadow of its former self and morphs into a glowing coppery ball.
The lunar eclipse will also feature the "biggest" full moon (in apparent size) of 2015, since the moon will also be at perigee on the very same day ─ its closest point to the Earth ─ 221,753 miles (356,877 km) away.

Visibility Maps for the Supermoon Lunar Eclipse (Gallery)

Read more in-depth, scientific info about the blood moon lunar eclipse from Space.com

http://www.space.com/30607-supermoon-lunar-eclipse-time-place-guide.html

And EarthSky.org for times in your area.

http://earthsky.org/?p=51212

Submitted by
Gerrie Ferris Finger

ECLIPSE - THE SKY GODS' CHRISTMAS GIFT

Wake up, sleepyhead and see the sky. On December 21 a lunar eclipse will last for three-and-a-half hours from its start as a partial eclipse at 1:33 a.m. ET to its finish at 5:01 a.m. ET, according to NASA. The previous lunar eclipse occurred June 26.

During a lunar eclipse you'll see an array of color changes as the moon, the Earth, and the sun align so that the sun's rays are shielded from the moon. An eclipse of the moon can only take place if the moon is full,.

The moon will pass through the Earth's umbra - shadow - which blocks sunlight from reaching the moon. The moon will take on a dramatic red color, so says NASA.

Before and after the total eclipse, the moon will pass through the penumbra, or outer region of the Earth's shadow, where Earth blocks some of the sun's rays, but not all.

If you live in North America, Greenland and Iceland and Western Europe you'll see the beginning stages of the eclipse. Western Asia sees the later stages after moonrise.

Compiled from News Sources and NASA

Gerrie Ferris Finger