AS IT IS 2015-09-25 Rare 'Supermoon' Eclipse Only Days Away

AS IT IS 2015-09-25 Rare 'Supermoon' Eclipse Only Days Away

Many people are looking forward to something unusual in the skies this weekend. In fact, astronomers¹ note that an event like this last happened 33 years ago!

People will have a chance to witness a celestial² event high above them. A lunar eclipse will take place at the same time as a supermoon, when the full moon is closest to earth. The best time to watch this supermoon eclipse will be at sunset Sunday night or before sunrise on Monday, depending on where you live.

A lunar eclipse is when the moon passes into the darkness of Earth’s shadow. This eclipse is special. The full moon will appear brighter and bigger because it is closer to Earth than at any other time in its orbit.

Noah Petro is with the National Aeronautics³ and Space Administration. He works at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center. 

"So we will go from being very bright to turning this beautiful red color, the effect of the sunrises and sunsets of the Earth being projected onto the lunar surface."

The last time the supermoon and a lunar eclipse took place at the same time was in 1982.

NASA scientists have been watching the moon for a long time. Back in the 1960s, the space agency’s Apollo program put a man on the moon.  In more recent years, the agency has collected information with its Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter. The orbiter flies as low as 20 kilometers above the moon's surface. Noah Petro says its pictures are leading to a better understanding of the moon.

"…Impact craters⁵ that have formed in the six years that we have been there. We are seeing evidence of migrating water across the surface. Not a lot of water, a small amount of water. But still the view that the moon is a static unchanging place is now completely different."

Scientists at Goddard have predicted eclipses a thousand years into the future. Noah Petro says the predictions are not difficult so long as scientists know where the earth, sun and moon are at any given time.

He adds that some moon rocks date back 4.5 billion years to the earliest history of our solar system.

"The record of that portion of time in our solar system is almost all but gone from the earth. So in order to understand what was happening, just after the planets formed, studying the surface of the moon is one of the most interesting and best places to do that. And so when we look at the moon, we’re really looking into the deep history of the earth as well, and, I think, from that we learn a lot about how our planet has changed, and how all planets have changed over time."

The supermoon eclipse will take place Sunday after the sun sets in North America and all of South America. It can be seen early Monday morning in parts of Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

The next time to witness such an eclipse will be 2033.

Words in This Story

celestial – adj. of or relating to the sky

lunar eclipse – n. when the moon passes directly behind the earth and is hidden in the darkness

shadow – n. an area where an object blocks light from the sun or electric lighting⁶

crater⁴ – n. a large round hole on the surface of a planet or the moon, caused by something falling from the sky

static – adj. showing little or no change or action

portion – n. a part or piece of something

1 astronomers   

n.天文学者，天文学家( astronomer的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Astronomers can accurately foretell the date,time,and length of future eclipses. 天文学家能精确地预告未来日食月食的日期、时刻和时长。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Astronomers used to ask why only Saturn has rings. 天文学家们过去一直感到奇怪，为什么只有土星有光环。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 celestial   

adj.天体的；天上的

参考例句：

• The rosy light yet beamed like a celestial dawn.玫瑰色的红光依然象天上的朝霞一样绚丽。
• Gravity governs the motions of celestial bodies.万有引力控制着天体的运动。

3 aeronautics   

n.航空术，航空学

参考例句：

• National Aeronautics and Space undertakings have made great progress.国家的航空航天事业有了很大的发展。
• He devoted every spare moment to aeronautics.他把他所有多余的时间用在航空学上。

4 crater   

n.火山口，弹坑

参考例句：

• With a telescope you can see the huge crater of Ve-suvius.用望远镜你能看到巨大的维苏威火山口。
• They came to the lip of a dead crater.他们来到了一个死火山口。

5 craters   

n.火山口( crater的名词复数 )；弹坑等

参考例句：

• Small meteorites have left impact craters all over the planet's surface. 这个行星的表面布满了小块陨石留下的撞击坑。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The battlefield was full of craters made by exploding shells. 战场上布满弹坑。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

6 lighting   

n.照明，光线的明暗，舞台灯光

参考例句：

• The gas lamp gradually lost ground to electric lighting.煤气灯逐渐为电灯所代替。
• The lighting in that restaurant is soft and romantic.那个餐馆照明柔和而且浪漫。