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Super moon plus eclipse adds up to spectacular night
supermoon-lunar-eclips
A super moon lunar eclipse will occur Sept. 27. The event hasnt been seen since 1982 and astronomy enthusiasts are ready to watch. Pictured is Cumberland Astronomical Society member Lloyd Watkins in his home observatory beside his Celestron 14-inch SCT and a 100mm binocular.
On Sept. 27, there will be a rare combination of a super moon and lunar eclipse. Weather permitting, sky-gazers in the United States will literally have front-row seats to a show that hasn’t been seen for more than three decades.Among those intently watching will be members of the Cumberland Astronomical Society, including Lloyd Watkins.“It is going to be impressive,” said Watkins.When asked to explain what a super moon lunar eclipse means, Watkins says “the moon is in an elliptical (egg-shaped) orbit around the Earth. The super moon lunar eclipse occurs when the moon is at perigee (point where the moon is nearest to Earth) when a lunar eclipse (where the moon passes through the Earth’s shadow) occurs.In layman’s terms:A super moon means the moon will be the closest possible distance to the earth on Sept. 27, making the moon’s diameter appear around 14 percent bigger and can look up to 30 percent brighter than usual.