The supermoon glows strong over Jerusalem.
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The moon shows its ruby face above the Beacon Mill in Brighton, England.
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The moon makes a bloody halo for this statue in Venice.
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The supermoon glitters over the Brooklyn Bridge, competing for attention with bright New York lights.
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Passengers aboard this plane in Los Angeles, California, transit the sky E.T. style—with a glowing supermoon backdrop.
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Shining 30 percent brighter than normal, the supermoon lights up the skies over the Mid-Autumn Festival in Korla City, China.
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The supermoon peeks through the clouds behind a statue in Ryazan, Russia.
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Three hours of the lunar eclipse captured as the moon transitioned from silver to red over London, England.
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The supermoon shines out over rubble in Gaza City.
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The ruby coloring of the moon rivaled for attention with the Trinity Church in Arendal, Norway.
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People around the world gathered to photograph and ogle the bright red glow of last night’s supermoon lunar eclipse.
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The supermoon makes an appearance above the Washington Monument.
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Larger than life, the supermoon is projected in a planetarium in Madrid, Spain.
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The moon left mouths agape around the world last night, larger and brighter than usual and glowing a melodramatic blood red—a spectacle that will not be seen again until 2033. This unusual occurrence was a rare mashup of a super-sized full moon and a total lunar eclipse, when the moon passes through Earth’s shadow. Even during a total eclipse, some of the sun’s rays filter through our atmosphere, leaving the moon with a spooky blood-red glow. Last night’s eclipsed moon was the last in a lunar eclipse tetrad, earning it the popular moniker "blood moon."
The greater size and brightness of last night’s supermoon can actually be seen at least once a year, when the full moon passes closest to the Earth in its elliptical journey around the planet. When the moon is in this position, called a perigee, it casts a silvery glow 30 percent brighter and 14 percent larger than when the orb is furthest away.
Though a supermoon or a lunar eclipse may not be rare on its own, the stars don’t often align for these events to occur in tandem. Since 1900, a supermoon lunar eclipse has only occurred five times, with the ruby orb last showing its enlarged face in 1982.
Maya Wei-Haas is a freelance science writer who specializes in geology of Earth and beyond. Her work has been featured in National Geographic, News from Science, andAGU’s EOS.