The sky will offer a spectacular show next week.
The super harvest moon, which will appear 14 percent larger, will rise on Tuesday, Sept. 17 and experience a partial lunar eclipse when part of it falls into Earth’s shadow.
Not only will part of the full moon appear darker, but the lunar surface is likely to glow a blood red because the only sunlight reaching it passes through Earth’s atmosphere.
The moon will be visible starting at approximately 7 p.m. Eastern Time, and the partial eclipse will begin at 8:41 p.m. Eastern Time and last until shortly after midnight.
The moon will glow blood red because it only receives sunlight that has passed through the Earth’s atmosphere. The Harvest Moon of 2024 can be seen over Spain.
A supermoon only occurs when the moon is at its closest distance to Earth in its elliptical orbit, known as “perigee,” 226,000 miles away.
The Moon is normally located 238,900 miles from our planet.
The closer location makes our natural satellite appear 30 percent brighter compared to when it is farther away.
Although the Moon reaches its perigee during every 27-day orbit around the Earth, supermoons only occur about three or four times a year.
While the term “supermoon” is not found in any astronomical dictionary, it is used to describe a full moon that is at least “90 percent of perigee,” according to NASA’s website.
Next week’s full moon is named after Early American agriculture.
The intense lighting allowed for an extension of daylight which contributed to one or more days supported with additional time for the harvest of fall crops around the autumn equinox.
Although we no longer rely on moonlight for agriculture, we still use the term to refer to the supermoon that occurs around this time each year.
But the 2024 Harvest Moon coincides with a lunar eclipse, which It occurs during the full moon phase and with an annual frequency of four to seven times a year, according to NASA’s website.
Similar to a solar eclipse, a total lunar eclipse involves a perfect planetary alignment involving the Earth, Moon, and Sun, resulting in the Sun’s rays being blocked on the surface of the moon.
The alignment of the Earth’s shadow, or umbra, causes a dimming effect on the brightness of a traditional full Moon that can result in red and orange hues reflected on the Moon’s surface depending on the concentration of dust in the Earth’s atmosphere at the observation point.
The next total lunar eclipse will occur on March 14, 2025, just before the spring equinox.
A partial lunar eclipse, such as the one that will be visible during the lunar supermoon on September 18, is the imperfect alignment of the Sun, Earth and Moon, resulting in the Moon passing through only part of the Earth’s umbra.
Partial lunar eclipses are visibly characterized by the waxing and waning of the Earth’s umbra over the Moon, without completely covering the entire surface of the Moon.
When the full moon is low, it appears larger and brighter, compared to its maximum height. This phenomenon is known as the lunar illusion and is something to keep in mind when trying to photograph upcoming lunar events.
Using a standard smartphone, astronomers and photographers recommend turning off the flash, turning on night mode (if the feature is available), reducing the exposure, and zooming in to magnify details and gain greater clarity of the already massive supermoon.