Monday 28 September 2015

Super blood moon

Last night we had a super blood moon, a rare moment combining two significant lunar events. The super moon occurs when the moon is at its closest point in its orbit around the Earth, making it larger and brighter. The blood moon is caused by a lunar eclipse caused by the earth moving between the sun and the moon. The dust in the earths atmosphere makes the moon appear red rather than dark.

The peak of the eclipse was at 3.15 am, so myself and hubby staggered out of bed and down the stairs just in time to open the back door and see what was happening. Luckily it was a beautifully clear, starry night and we got a brilliant view of, what was definitely a red moon.


 

It was very strange, because the stars were shining bright but it felt so dark outside. It felt 'out of this world' to see a red moon outside our back door. The last time it happened was 1982 and the next time will be 2033, so it really was a very rare occurrence. I was very glad we made the effort to get up and see it.

Strangely the blood moon seemed to be quite small especially when compared to the amazing super moon we'd seen earlier at sunrise. I'd been driving home at about 7pm and the moon that appeared on the horizon had been totally stunning, hanging in the dusk sky like an enormous glowing ball. No photo unfortunately as I was driving.

Not to be outdone, this evenings sunset has been pretty spectacular as well!

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