14 DAY TRIAL // Come Sunday, September 27, the Moon will pass behind Earth. Engulfed by our planet's shadow, its surface will turn reddish. Well, it won't really change color, but it will look like it did to us, Earth dwellers.
Better yet, this lunar eclipse will coincide with the Moon being especially close to our planet and so appearing about 14% bigger than it usually does. So we'll not only experience a lunar eclipse, we'll actually witness a supermoon lunar eclipse.
During nighttime, the supermoon lunar eclipse will be visible from North and South America. Then, in the early hours of the morning of September 28, it will be visible from Europe and Africa, NASA explains.
The eclipse will peak at about 10:47 p.m. EDT and is expected to last for well over an hour, so getting a good look at it shouldn't be all that big of a challenge.
As you've probably guessed, supermoon lunar eclipses aren't exactly common occurrences. The last one happened in 1982, and astronomers say we’ll have to wait until 2033 for another.
Best not miss the show then
What with supermoon lunar eclipses being as rare as they are, we'll go out on a limb here and assume you really don't want to miss the one scheduled for this coming Sunday.
Well, if you're planning on snapping some photos of the event as well - which you probably are - NASA senior photographer Bill Ingalls has some tips on how to get the best shots.
For starters, Bill Ingalls says we shouldn't photograph the reddish supermoon all by itself. Rather, we should try to image it next to a landmark or some other point of reference.
“Think of how to make the image creative - that means tying it into some land-based object. It can be a local landmark or anything to give your photo a sense of place,” the photographer explains.
Then, including people in the frame can also make for a great shot. “There are lots of great photos of people appearing to be holding the moon in their hand and that kind of thing,” he says.
Although tricky, photographing the supermoon lunar eclipse with a smartphone camera is nonetheless doable, the NASA photographer says. Well, at least as long as you don't aim big.
“You’re not going to get a giant moon in your shot, but you can do something more panoramic, including some foreground that’s interesting,” Bill Ingalls explains.
