A "supermoon" bathed in the blood-red light of a total eclipse will be seen by skygazers for the first time in decades. The celestial show was visible from the Americas, Europe, Africa, west Asia and the east Pacific. It is a result of the Sun, Earth and a larger-than -life, extra bright Moon lining up for just over an hour from 0211 GMT.
The moon will enter Earth's much darker umbral shadow at 1:07 a.m. on Sept. 28 by Greenwich, or Universal time, which is 9:07 p.m. on Sept. 27 in the Eastern time zone, 8:07 p.m. Central time, 7:07 p.m. Mountain time and 6:07 p.m. Pacific time (before moonrise). Sixty-four minutes later, the moon is entirely within the shadow, and sails on within it for 72 minutes until it begins to find its way out at the lower left (southeastern) edge.
The Moon will be at its closest orbital point to Earth, called perigee, while also in its brightest part. The resulting "supermoon" will seem to be 30 percent brighter and 14 times bigger than when at highest point, the farthest point - which is about 49,800 kilometres (31,000 miles) from perigee.
Strangely, our planet will take place in a straight line between the Moon and the Sun, blotting out the straight sunlight that usually makes our satellite glow whitish-yellow. But some light will still creep around Earth's edges and be filtered through its atmosphere, casting an strange red light that creates the "blood moon".
The Moon moves to a similar position every month, but the tilt of its orbit means it normally passes above or below the Earth's shadow - so most months have a full moon minus eclipse.
For people younger than 33, this will be their first-ever opportunity to perceive a "super blood moon". The last, only the fifth recorded since 1900, was in 1982, according to the NASA space agency, and the next will not be until 2033.
Different from a solar eclipse, which creates the impression of a bright "ring" of light as the Moon passes before our star, there is no hazard in watching lunar spectacle with the naked eye, the experts say.
