Observers thrilled by supermoon total lunar eclipse

Supermoon total lunar eclipse 2015

28 September 2015 Astronomy Now

Astronomy Now's web editor Ade Ashford captured this view of the supermoon in mid-eclipse from mid-Norfolk, UK at 3:47am BST on Monday, 28 September. Celestron 80ED refractor with a Canon 1100D, 6-second exposure, ISO 800.
Astronomy Now‘s web editor Ade Ashford captured this view of the supermoon mid-eclipse from central Norfolk, UK at 3:47am BST on Monday, 28 September. Celestron 80ED refractor with a Canon 1100D, 6-second exposure, ISO 800. Image © Ade Ashford.
Astronomers circling the North Atlantic and in South America were treated to a spectacular total eclipse of the Moon that occurred at prime time for US-based stargazers Sunday night, 27 September and in the early hours of Monday morning for observers in Western Europe.

While ribbons of cloud crossed the British Isles in the small hours of 28 September, large swathes of southern and eastern England had clear skies for most of the event, amply rewarding those who chose to set their alarms to brave the chilly autumnal air.

Another image from Astronomy Now's web editor Ade Ashford, this time post-totality at 4:38am BST when the Moon was emerging from the Earth's umbral shadow. Celestron 80ED refractor with a Canon 1100D, 2-second exposure, ISO 400.
Another image from Astronomy Now‘s web editor Ade Ashford, this time post-totality at 4:38am BST when the Moon was emerging from the Earth’s umbral shadow. Celestron 80ED refractor with a Canon 1100D, 2-second exposure, ISO 400. Image © Ade Ashford.
The last time that a supermoon — a full Moon occurring when it is closest to the Earth in its orbit — coincided with a total lunar eclipse was 30 December 1982, hence the widespread interest in this morning’s event.

For those observers that were unfortunately clouded out, NASA’s online live streaming of the event broadcast from Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, with a live feed from the Griffith Observatory, Los Angeles, California, proved enormously popular.

Observers in the British Isles have to wait until the evening of Friday, 27 July 2018 for the next ‘normal’ total lunar eclipse visible from these shores, while the next totally eclipsed supermoon entails a slightly longer wait: 8 October 2033.

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17 January 2019 Ade Ashford

While you may not relish the prospect of waking up in the small hours most Monday mornings, observers in the British Isles and Western Europe will want to set their alarms no later than 5am GMT on 21 January to see this month’s showstopper celestial event — a total lunar eclipse of an unusually close ‘supermoon’. The total lunar eclipse is also visible in its entirety (weather permitting) from the Americas.