This Tuesday (17), night sky watchers will have the chance to check out a partial lunar eclipse occurring during a Supermoon .
The combination of these two phenomena comes about a month after a rare blue supermoon in mid-August. Supermoons are the largest and brightest lunar events of the year. They occur when the moon is at its closest point to Earth (perigee), since the Moon’s orbit around the Earth is not a perfect circle, but an elliptical path.
A full Moon that is at least 90% at perigee can be considered a supermoon. Our satellite can appear up to 14% larger and 30% brighter than when it is at its farthest point from the planet, known as apogee, about 405,500 kilometers from Earth.
A partial lunar eclipse occurs when only part of the satellite is covered by the Earth’s shadow.
Lunar eclipses occur when the Earth is between the Sun and the Moon, which ends up being “blocked” from receiving sunlight due to the Earth’s shadow. For this to happen, the Moon must be in its full phase.
In a total lunar eclipse, the Moon is completely covered by the Earth’s shadow, while in a partial eclipse only part of the satellite receives this shadow — which looks like a “bite” in the Moon.
The partial eclipse on Tuesday (17), however, should not be very expressive. At the maximum moment of the eclipse, only 3.5% of the Moon’s area should appear covered.
How to observe the partial eclipse of the Supermoon
Both the Supermoon and the partial lunar eclipse are observable with the naked eye and will be visible throughout Brazil — if the weather conditions are favorable and the sky is not cloudy.
The partial eclipse will begin at 11:12 p.m. (Brasília time) on Tuesday. The peak of the eclipse is expected to be reached at 11:44 p.m., with the end scheduled for 12:15 a.m., in the early hours of Wednesday (18).
The National Observatory will also broadcast the live event on your YouTube channel. The broadcast will begin at 9:30 pm on Tuesday (17).
More Supermoons in 2024
The remaining Supermoons of 2024 will occur in September 17th , October 17th and November 15th.
However, the biggest and brightest Moon of the year will rise in October, when the satellite is expected to be about 100 kilometers closer to Earth.
*With information from Agência Brasil
This content was originally published in Supermoon and partial eclipse happen together this Tuesday (17); find out more on the CNN Brasil website.
Source: CNN Brasil
Charles Grill is a tech-savvy writer with over 3 years of experience in the field. He writes on a variety of technology-related topics and has a strong focus on the latest advancements in the industry. He is connected with several online news websites and is currently contributing to a technology-focused platform.
