The first total lunar eclipse in more than two years coincides with a supermoon this week for quite a cosmic show. The super “blood” moon will be visible on Wednesday (May 26, 2021) across the Pacific as well as the western half of North America, bottom of South America and eastern Asia. The total eclipse will last about 15 minutes as Earth passes directly between the moon and the sun. But the entire show will last five hours, as Earth’s shadow gradually covers the moon, then starts to ebb. The reddish-orange color is the result of all the sunrises and sunsets in Earth’s atmosphere projected onto the surface of the eclipsed moon. Circling the moon for 12 years, the orbiter will measure temperature changes on the lunar surface during the eclipse. Telescopes atom Hawaii’s Mauna Kea also will monitor the moon. The moon will be setting and sun rising along the U.S. East Coast, leaving skygazers pretty much out of luck. Europe, Africa and western Asia will miss everything. The moon will be more than 220,000 miles away at its fullest. It’s this proximity, combined with a full moon, that qualifies it as a supermoon, making it appear slightly bigger and more brilliant in the sky. Last month’s supermoon was 96 miles more distant. Unlike a solar eclipse, there’s no harm in looking at an eclipsed moon. The next total lunar eclipse will be in May 2022. The last one was January 2019.
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