The first “supermoon” lunar eclipse since 1982 will be visible over European skies later this month. The moon will be about 15% bigger with an expected brighter red eclipse as the Moon passes through the shadow of the Earth. This particular “supermoon” lunar eclipse is quite rare as there won’t be another one until 2033.
Depending on weather conditions in the UK, the lunar eclipse will begin around 2am local time on the morning of Monday 28th September, with maximum totality at 03:47am.
The lunar eclipse will be visible to observers in North and South America, Africa, western Asia, the eastern Pacific Ocean region and Europe.
With the Moon being at perigee, this is a great time to watch a lunar eclipse with the hope that it will be bigger and brighter than all others in the last 30 years.
Last month’s SuperMoon was quite striking if you got a chance to see it.
The moon looks larger at times because of the moon’s orbit around our planet is elliptical, so while its average distance from the Earth is 239,000 miles (384,600 kilometres) it can get as close as 226,000 miles (363,700 km) at the closest point, or perigee. When a supermoon is seen at perigee, it looks up to 14 per cent larger from Earth and up to 30 times brighter than when the moon is at its furthest from the Earth – a point known as the apogee.
Since 1900 there have only been five ‘supermoon’ lunar eclipses – in 1910, 1928, 1946, 1964 and 1982.
Times below are in GMT and provided by CalSky.com
| Time (24-hour clock) | Object (Link) | Event |
|---|---|---|
 0h10m21s |
 Lunar Eclipse |
Penumbral lunar eclipse begins Position Angle=60.1°, Position angle vertex=60.7°, Altitude=35.8°, Azimuth=180.7° S |
| 1h06m51s |
Lunar Eclipse |
Partial lunar eclipse begins Position Angle=53.6°, Position angle vertex=43.9°, Altitude=34.7°, Azimuth=197.5° SSW |
| 2h10m44s |
Lunar Eclipse |
Totality begins Position Angle=29.3°, Position angle vertex=9.5°, Altitude=30.9°, Azimuth=215.4° SW |
| 2h36m17.8s |
Lunar Eclipse |
Opposition in RA Position Angle=360.0°, Position angle vertex=336.8°, Altitude=28.7°, Azimuth=222.1° SW |
| 2h47m08s |
Lunar Eclipse→graphical chart |
Greatest eclipse: Total Lunar Eclipse Saros-Number: 137, Magnitude=1.282, Position angle=342.3°, Position angle vertex=317.8° Brightness: -2.0mag, Danjon scale L=2.9 (bright) Duration total phase=72.8 minutes, Duration partial phase=200.6 minutes, Duration penumbral phase=313.6 minutes, ET-UT=68.0sec, Altitude=27.7°, Azimuth=224.9° SW |
| 3h23m32s |
Lunar Eclipse |
Totality ends Position Angle=295.3°, Position angle vertex=266.9°, Altitude=23.9°, Azimuth=233.7° SW |
| 4h27m25s |
Lunar Eclipse |
Partial lunar eclipse ends Position Angle=271.0°, Position angle vertex=237.9°, Altitude=16.3°, Azimuth=248.0° WSW |
| 5h23m57s |
Lunar Eclipse |
Penumbral lunar eclipse ends Position Angle=264.5°, Position angle vertex=229.2°, Altitude=8.9°, Azimuth=259.7° W |
Clear Skies.