Tuesday night’s moon will not only be full, but the September harvest moon will coincide with a supermoon and a partial eclipse.
What does that mean? Provided the skies are clear, you’ll see a bigger, brighter moon. The supermoon occurs at 10:35 p.m. on September 17. “At its closest point, the full moon can appear up to 14 percent bigger and 30 percent brighter than the faintest moon of the year, which occurs when it’s farthest from Earth in its orbit,” NASA said.
But with the partial eclipse, the moon will change.
“You’ll see a little bite taken out of one side of the moon over about an hour,” writes NASA’s Preston Dyches.
A lunar eclipse happens when the Earth is positioned between a full moon and the sun, and the moon then passes through the Earth’s shadow.
It may be tricky to see, but the peak of the eclipse will be at 10:44 p.m. with the top 8 percent of the moon in full shadow. “The moon will finish exiting the full shadow at 11:16 p.m. and the partial shadow on Wednesday morning at 12:47 a.m.,” writes NASA’s Gordon Johnston.
How Often Do Supermoons Happen?
Supermoons happen usually three or four times a year. This year, there are four. You’ll notice the moon looking full for about three days, from Monday evening through Thursday morning.
September’s supermoon, also the closest to the autumnal equinox on September 22, will be nearly 3,000 miles closer than the one in August that was a “blue” supermoon.
If you missed this week’s moon, your next opportunity for a lunar treat will be October’s supermoon. It’s the one that will be the closest to Earth at 222,055 miles away on October 17. November’s supermoon on November 15 will be 224,853 miles from Earth.
The next total lunar eclipse doesn’t happen until March 2025.
Feature image by Belish, stock.adobe.com
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