On Sunday night, those looking up at the night sky caught a rare sight: a total lunar eclipse on the night of a supermoon. A supermoon occurs when a full moon is closest to the earth and so appears larger and brighter than normal. Sunday’s supermoon was the only one of its kind for the year, and the fact that a total lunar eclipse occurred at the same time made this a special event—there won’t be another supermoon eclipse for another 18 years. In a total lunar eclipse, the moon goes into the earth’s shadow and observers see the moon as a dramatic red colour, also known as a blood moon.
