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Rare lunar eclipse won't be seen again 'til 2033

Posted at 8:22 AM, Sep 25, 2015
and last updated 2015-09-25 11:22:39-04

You're hearing everyone excitedly talk about the moon, but why? Well because it hasn't happened since 1982, and it won't happen again until 2033.

Well the full Harvest Moon on Sunday is actually a "supermoon", appearing larger and brighter in the sky because it is in "perigee", the closest to Earth in its annual orbit.

The lunar eclipse of that huge moon begins just after 6 p.m., as the moon passes into Earth's shadow, but we won't see it until the moon rises over Kern County about 6:43 p.m. So by the time the moon is visible, there will already be a shadowy chunk missing out of it.

The best time to see the moon turn red (when it is completely in Earth's shadow) will be at 7:47 p.m. that evening, just as long as the clouds stay away.

So why does it turn red? Well that's because of the Earth's atmosphere causing a reflection of light. If we didn't have the atmosphere, the moon would simply be gray, or disappear, in our shadow.

The end of the partial eclipse will be at 9:27 p.m.

(Local times courtesy timeanddate.com)