If you didn’t get to enjoy the lunar eclipse, dread not. Here’s what you missed and can still look forward to. For those of you who had a chance to take a moment and connect yourself with nature, here are some facts that can reinvigorate you to continue your gazing at the cosmos.
The Lunar Eclipse: An Extraordinary Event
Yes, the sight of the moon was an extraordinary event on the evening of Sunday, September 27th for many of us in the Northern Hemisphere and here is the main reason why. Our moon was a supermoon and a harvest moon during the actual event of a lunar eclipse. This event last occurred in 1982 and won’t occur again until 2033, the year when high school seniors today will be in their mid-thirties. Keep in mind this fact only regards the combination of a supermoon and lunar eclipse event.
A supermoon is simply the moon appearing bigger to us because it’s actually closer. This occurs when it’s at a point in its orbit around Earth called the perigee, where the moon is closest to our planet, as opposed to the apogee, or the point in its orbit where the moon is furthest from Earth and is smaller.
The basis of this phenomenon is the fact that orbits in space are elliptical or egg-shaped, whether the celestial objects are planets circling stars or moons orbiting planets. Some orbits happen to be more egg-shaped than others. We can thank 17th century mathematician and astronomer, Johannes Kepler, for this discovery. Otherwise, we’d still be thinking all orbits are uniform and perfectly circle like we did in Aristotelian times. This particular moon last Sunday night happened to be at its perigee while the lunar eclipse unfolded before our eyes. If you missed this, don’t worry. We still have our harvest moon to enjoy tonight and tomorrow.
Take This Chance To Acknowledge The Harvest Moon
The harvest moon phenomenon is sometimes misunderstood as a one-time event. However, this isn’t the case. Wednesday, September 23rd was this year’s fall equinox and the harvest moon event happens slightly before or after we enter the season for several nights. The time it takes the full moon to rise into the nightly sky becomes shorter and shorter after sunset. The exact opposite happens in spring when the full moon takes longer to rise into the dark sky.
The harvest moon gave our ancestors a couple of gifts for agricultural and survival purposes. For one, it provided extra light in the dark after sunset to continue obtaining the last of their crops to store for the winter to come. And secondly, it served as a warning that winter was coming soon! The harvest moon warning, however, won’t occur for our friends in the southern hemisphere until our spring in 2016.
We invite you to look up and enjoy the rest of the harvest moon this year. Let it inspire you to start bringing out fall decorations such as your cornucopia and autumn wreath. As we move forward, the moon will continue to be cherished and admired as we venture onto our newest discoveries and exciting adventures in space.
Featured Image Courtesy of the Huffington Post
