These photos of last night’s rare lunar event were taken right here in town, where our dark skies make for ideal viewing. A super moon is when a new or full moon occurs while at its closest point to Earth in its monthly orbit, making it appear considerably larger and brighter than other full moons. What made this one so rare is that it coincided with a lunar eclipse. The last time this happened was in 1982. It won’t happen again until 2033.

The first shot was taken just after the eclipse began. The second one was taken a couple of hours later near the full eclipse, where the moon is in the shadow of the Earth. Light scattering off Earth’s atmosphere causes a coppery-red appearance, which is why this is sometimes called a blood moon.

Kudos to Tim Crane for capturing these images from the front porch!