Supermoon 2015 live stream: Watch Blood Moon 2015 online
A supermoon lunar eclipse will make a rare appearance on Sunday night to make a spectacular sky show for those living in the Western Hemisphere.
On the night of Sept. 27, the moon will appear 14 percent larger and will be red-tinged during the rare eclipse. The "Blood Moon" eclipse, which last occurred in 1982, will happen again in 2033, according to Live Science.
The reddish color of the moon is the effect of refracted light from sunsets and sunrises, NASA explains. Those located in North America, South America, Africa, Europe, and some parts of eastern Pacific and western Asia will be treated to a clear view of the rare sky show on Sunday night, the report details.
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In a statement, NASA announced that the supermoon lunar eclipse on Sunday will start at 9:07 p.m. EDT (0107 GMT) wherein the moon will begin passing through the Earth's shadow. AT 10:11 p.m. EDT, a total eclipse will be witnessed and will last for 1 hour and 12 minutes.
Live Science interviewed NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) deputy project scientist Noah Petro to find out how to have the best skywatching experience on Sunday. First, he said skywatchers should find an "open vantage point" or a field that does not have lots of tall trees, or a darker area where there are no city lights. This setting should be conducive for seeing the lunar eclipse when in an urban area, provided that the weather is fair, WSB Atlanta reports.
Those who do not have access to a nearby field can have an unobstructed view of the night sky from the roof of an establishment or a park or parking lot without tall trees.
Skywatchers should remember that the eclipse will take some time before it can be observed properly, according to Amateur Astronomers Association of New York member Arty Kundhart.
The first thing that they will see is a very light shadow called the penumbra, then later the dark part of the Earth's shadow called the umbra. This is what people will see during the total eclipse, Kundhart explained to Live Science.
Skywatchers will not be the only ones observing Sunday's supermoon total eclipse. Scientists will be watching, too, because they want to gather data about the lunar surface during the event. Petro's team will use the LRO spacecraft to gather information about the moon, including its surface and subsurface temperatures, to determine the changes that have occurred on the surface over the course of time.
If you can't go out to watch the rare celestial event tonight, be sure to watch it online via live stream in the video below:
