Earth set for rare 'blood supermoon' lunar eclipse in September

For the first time in over 30 years, people of Earth will get to view a rare supermoon and lunar eclipse combo. The last time we got to experience such a phenomenon was in 1982 and the one that will appear on 27 September will be visible in Europe, the Americas, Africa, Western Asia and the Eastern Pacific Ocean region – providing it is not a cloudy night.

The supermoon total lunar eclipse comes about when a supermoon – which occurs when the moon reaches its closest point to the earth due to its elliptical orbit – coincides with the almost perfect alignment of the moon, earth and sun, with our planet blocking the light from the star in our solar system.

It means that not only will the moon appear some 14% larger in diameter, it will also appear brighter, with a hint of red.

There have only been five examples of the lunar display since the early 1900s when they came about every 18 years -1910, 1928, 1946, 1964, and 1982 – until a 33 year break until the upcoming one at the end of September 2015.