During a total
eclipse, the Earth blocks nearly all direct sunlight from reaching the
moon.
Indirect sunlight
still manages to make it there filtering out most of the light, except for
much of the red or orange hues. This makes the moon appear a rusty, reddy,
orange colour,
The amount of dust and
clouds in Earth's atmosphere during the total eclipse determine what colour the
moon appears. It could be red, orange, yellow or brown.
Our moon ranges from
roughly 355,000 to 405,000 kms away from Earth during its orbit, Tonight
be just 357,000 km away. This makes it look 14 per cent larger and 30 per
cent brighter than when it's farther away. Both a Supermoon and Lunar Eclipse
are fairly common on their own, but this pairing occurs together
only once every few decades.
The lunar
eclipse and Supermoon will happen simultaneously, an event the world
hasn't seen in more than three decades. The last one was in 1982.
It you miss tonights celestial show will have to wait about 18
years for your chance to catch another Supermoon eclipse, which occurs in 2033.
Dress
warm tonight!
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