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What to know about Tuesday’s lunar eclipse and Harvest Supermoon: NPR
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What to know about Tuesday’s lunar eclipse and Harvest Supermoon: NPR

A blood moon will be visible over Brisbane, Australia, during a lunar eclipse on November 8, 2022.

A blood moon will be visible over Brisbane, Australia, during a lunar eclipse on November 8, 2022.

Dan Peled/Getty Images


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Dan Peled/Getty Images

Stargazers can expect another celestial treat on Tuesday evening, as three cosmic events will occur simultaneously during the full moon.

After last month brought space enthusiasts a blue supermoon, September’s Harvest Moon will coincide not only with a supermoon, but also a blood moon and a partial lunar eclipse.

Although there are full moons every year just before the start of fall and supermoons three to four times a year, all three events at the same time are “quite rare,” astrophysicist Teresa Monsue of NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center told NPR.

According to NASA, the moon is considered a “supermoon” when it is full and its orbit reaches the point closest to Earth. When Earth is between the full moon and the sun and the moon passes through Earth’s shadow, a lunar eclipse occurs.

How to see the Harvest Supermoon and Lunar Eclipse

The best time to view the event depends on your location, but according to NASA, the lunar eclipse will peak at 10:44 p.m. ET. Weather permitting, all of North and South America will have a chance to see the partial lunar eclipse and the Harvest Supermoon. There will also be a chance to see the eclipse in Europe and Africa.

This lunar eclipse will be a partial eclipse, with only the upper part of the moon immersed in the darkest part of the Earth’s shadow, the so-called umbra, Monsue said.

“Except for the small dark area at the top of the lunar disk, most of the visible lunar disk will be in Earth’s penumbra, the lighter part of the planet’s shadow that does not completely block sunlight,” she said, adding that this will give most of the moon a reddish-brown appearance that we call a “blood moon.”

And unlike a solar eclipse, where you have to wear special glasses to protect your eyes, skywatchers can easily observe Tuesday’s lunar eclipse without eye protection.

“During a lunar eclipse, it is safe to look directly at the moon because the reflected light is no brighter than the moonlight,” Monsue said.

The eclipse also provides a good opportunity to see the contrasts of craters and other features on the lunar surface using a telescope or binoculars, she said.

When can I see the next lunar eclipse and supermoon?

If you miss Tuesday night’s solar eclipse and supermoon, unfortunately the next one won’t happen until October 8, 2033, according to Monsue.

But you will be able to see another full supermoon on October 17 and a total lunar eclipse on March 14, 2025.

There will also be an annular solar eclipse, or “ring of fire,” on October 2, when the moon passes between the Earth and the sun but is at or near its farthest point from our planet. The only potential viewers in the U.S. who will have a chance to see it, however, will be in Hawaii.

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