Amy-O-Meter: Sunday night’s Supermoon
According to Space.com, a supermoon occurs when the moon reaches its full phase at or near its closest approach to Earth. That makes it appear abnormally large and bright.
This Sunday (September 27th) the supermoon is coupled with a lunar eclipse.
A lunar eclipse occurs when the moon passes directly into the Earth’s shadow, called the umbra. This can only happen when the Earth, sun and moon are aligned with the Earth in the middle.
This Sunday’s total lunar eclipse also marks the harvest moon.
Check out this Space.com viewing map for Sunday’s event.
If the clouds don’t hamper our view, the entire eclipse should be visible to the entire Tennessee Valley. If the clouds do stick around, the Slooh Observatory will offer a free online show here. Any way you can check it out, it’s definitely a "10" on the Amy-O-Meter!
More fun facts from Space.com: the last supermoon eclipse occurred in 1982, and the next won’t take place until 2033.
Happy sky-gazing!
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