Last Updated on May 25, 2021 by Solar System Ambassador Pam Roller
Here’s an update from our local Solar System Ambassador, Pam Roller:
This month brings the “most super” of the year’s super moons, and on top of that, a total lunar eclipse. In other words, on May 26, 2021, the full moon will enter Earth’s shadow — and, when the Moon is not in our planet’s shade, it will appear even bigger and brighter than usual.
The link below has information explaining a super blood moon and a total lunar eclipse.
It has a video clip visualizing a super moon eclipse, and a video clip of a super moon and a lunar eclipse occurring at the same time.
How can I see the supermoon eclipse?
Observers all over the world will be able to see the supermoon throughout the night if the sky is clear. Like all full moons, the supermoon rises in the east around sunset and sets in the west around sunrise. It is highest overhead in the late night and very early morning hours.
The lunar eclipse is harder to catch. The total eclipse, or the time when the Moon is in deepest shadow, will last for about 15 minutes. If the Moon is up in your area while this happens, you are in for a treat.
The total lunar eclipse will be visible near moonset in the western continental United States and Canada, all of Mexico, most of Central America and Ecuador, western Peru, and southern Chile and Argentina. Along the Asian Pacific Rim, the total eclipse will be visible just after moonrise.
The partial eclipse, which takes place as the Moon moves into and out of Earth’s shadow, will be visible from the eastern United States and Canada just before the Moon sets in the morning, and from India, Nepal, western China, Mongolia, and eastern Russia just after the Moon rises in the evening.
Observers in eastern Australia, New Zealand, and the Pacific Islands, including Hawaii, will see both the total and the partial eclipse.
If the supermoon eclipse isn’t visible from your location, you can still explore this phenomenon second by second with NASA’s Scientific Visualization Studio.
Lunar Photography Guide
Credits: NASA’s website, NASA Science Earth’s Moon, NASA’s Scientific Visualization Studio