As humans, we have always been fascinated by the moon. As a child, I used to gaze up at the moon in the sky and think there is a mother holding a child in her hands. At other times, it appeared to be a rabbit. On September 27 and 28 night, a rare astronomical event turned the sky into a beautiful canvas. The sky was illuminated with the presence of a ‘Supermoon’ during a total lunar eclipse giving the excited sky gazers a glimpse of rare ‘red blood moon’ around the world. A combination of a Super Moon and a total lunar eclipse is captivating. This rare astronomical event last occurred in 1982.
The first Blood Moon eclipse in the ongoing series of four happened on the night of April 14-15, 2014. The second one took place was October 7-8, 2014, and the third one (the shortest total lunar eclipse of the 21st century) was on April 4, 2015. The fourth and final total lunar eclipse of the ongoing lunar tetrad – four total lunar eclipses in a row, spaced at six full moons apart – fell on the night of September 27-28. It was visible to skywatchers in North America and Europe.
I shall conclude with these lines
Tonight I watched in awe,
the moon once pure and white.
Obeying the nighttime law;
lighting the sky so brightly.
The stars and the moon are in sync,
dancing their worries away.
The end can happen in a blink;
a sudden halt would not sway.
Darker the night grew –
and darker the moon dost shine.
I stood there in awe, in view,
– a bloodish sublime.
The proud moon once danced so free,
now cowering behind a blood red veil.
I stood there in awe to see,
the world halt with a quail.
The moon eclipsed in a taint of dark red;
I stood there in awe in yonder.
‘Is not the moon dead?
What of this? ‘ I ponder.
Hours pass feeling like eternity,
watching the blood moon night pass.
Returning the world back to modernity,
knowing this isn’t the last.
The moon is pure and white once more.
Don’t succumb to joy just yet.
Again it’ll happen, I swore –
three more nights, a blood moon to fret.
Adam M. Snow
The above poem appropriately expresses how I feel seeing this supermoon.
*/This post is inspired by the rare astronomical event ‘Supermoon’ or ‘Blood moon’./*