The first blood supermoon eclipse in 33 years appears this Sunday
By Oliver Morrison
The Wichita Eagle
This Sunday you will be able to see the total lunar eclipse better than at any other time in 33 years. That’s because it coincides with a “supermoon.”
A lunar eclipse occurs when the Earth gets in the way of the sun and the moon and the Earth’s shadow passes over the moon.
The eclipse is sometimes called a blood moon due to its red appearance. The violet to green portion of the light spectrum is filtered out, and the red waves of light are filtered through the atmosphere, like during a sunset, some of which then bounces onto the moon. If the Earth didn’t have an atmosphere, the shadow of the Earth would make the moon look totally black.
But the exact hue of red will
depend on conditions in the atmosphere, such as dust, humidity and temperature. For example, after a volcano in 1992, the lunar eclipse had very little red because all the dust particles didn’t let much red light through.
A supermoon looks 14 percent bigger because it appears closer to the horizon. So whatever hue of red the moon appears (
to those who can see red) it will be bigger and more visible Sunday than it will be again for 18 more years, which is the next time a supermoon and total lunar eclipse coincide.
Eclipse facts
The shadow on the moon first seen at 7:40 p.m. CDT.
Partial eclipse begins: 8:07 p.m.
Total eclipse begins: 9:11 p.m.
Mid-eclipse: 9:48 p.m.
Total eclipse ends: 10:23 p.m.
Partial eclipse ends: 11:27 p.m.
The shadow on the moon last seen: 11:55 p.m.
