This Sunday night, a rare combination of astronomical occurrences will combine to make a Super Blood Moon - a phenomenon that hasn't happened since 1982, and won't happen again until 2033. A supermoon occurs when the moon is closest to the Earth in its orbit, making it appear about 14 percent larger. This will coincide with a lunar eclipse, leaving the moon in Earth's shadow. It will appear about 30 percent brighter and will have a reddish hue.
Individually, a supermoon and lunar eclipse are not uncommon, but it is quite rare to have them align like this. Since 1900, a supermoon eclipse has only happened five times.
According to astronomers, the eclipse will begin at 9:07 p.m. Eastern time and the moon will begin to show a reddish tint around 10 p.m. when the entire moon will be in the Earth's shadow. It will remain fully in the shadow until 11:23 p.m., and the eclipse will end at 12:27 a.m. Lucky for us, the reddish tint is likely to be visible throughout much of North America, and especially on the East Coast. So there's no excuse not to get out there and watch it!
Need help visualizing? Check out this helpful video from NASA:
https://youtu.be/vKAw_wrIr5s
