Super Blood Moon eclipse on night of September 27-28

A Rare Eclipse of a Supermoon

The full Moon of September 27/28 is a Supermoon – the Moon will be closest to the Earth. or at its perigee[per-i-jee] , as it turns into a full Moon. A rising Super Full Moon can look larger and brighter to spectators on Earth.

Total eclipses of Super Full Moons are rare. According to NASA, they have only occurred 5 times in the 1900s – in 1910, 1928, 1946, 1964 and 1982. After the September 27/ 28, 2015 Total Lunar Eclipse, a Supermoon eclipse will not happen again for another 18 years, until October 8, 2033.

It's Part of a Lunar Tetrad

The September 28, 2015 Total Lunar Eclipse is the fourth and final eclipse in a series of four total lunar eclipses called the lunar tetrad. The first three eclipses of the tetrad took place on April 15, 2014, October 8, 2014 and on April 4, 2015.

Notice something interesting about the dates? Each of the eclipses in the tetrad occurs about 6 months apart and have 5 full Moons between them!

It's Part of a Lunar Tetrad

Lunar tetrads can be rare in some centuries and can occur frequently in others. The 21st century will have 8 lunar tetrads, the maximum number of lunar tetrads that can occur in a century. The last time this happened was in the 9th century!

The next lunar tetrad of the 21st century will start with the April 25, 2032 Total Lunar Eclipse

And is Being Called a Blood Moon

An eclipsed Moon can take on a reddish glow during totality.

Astronomers do not use Blood Moon as a scientific term. However, it is possible that the term came to describe total lunar eclipses because of the reddish color the eclipsed Moon takes on during totality. This happens because of Rayleigh scattering, the same mechanism that causes colorful sunrises and sunsets.

It will Happen on Harvest Moon

Harvest Moon is the Northern Hemisphere's first fall (autumn) full Moon.The Lunar Eclipse on September 27/ 28, 2015 will occur during the Northern Hemisphere's first fall (autumn) full Moon. Called the Harvest Moon in many northern cultures, it is the full Moon closest to the September Equinox, and is astronomically significant.

It's the Last Eclipse of 2015

2015 has 4 eclipses, the minimum number of eclipses that can happen in a calendar year. The September 28 Total Lunar Eclipse marks the last eclipse of the year. It will be preceded by a partial solar eclipse on September 13, 2015.

The first eclipse of the year, a total solar eclipse took place on March 20. Two weeks later, on April 4, 2015 the first lunar eclipse of 2015 took place.

Eclipses