Rare supermoon and partial eclipse to light up sky across Oxfordshire

There will be a ‘pretty rare' partial eclipse of the supermoon visible across Oxfordshire as it is set to light up the skies tonight.

If you miss it tonight, you might have to wait nearly a decade as the next its kind isn't expected to be until September 2033.

What is the best time to catch a glimpse?

At approximately 1:40am on Wednesday morning, a small shadow created by Earth will appear in the top right corner of the moon as the eclipse starts.

Dr Chris Pearson is head of the Astrophysics Programme at STFC RAL Space in Harwell, near Didcot, he said: “The best effect for the die-hards is at around 3am in the morning we will see the full shadow on the moon here.

“The maximum will be at around 3.45am and then it’s all over at around 5.45am and you can go back to bed again”.

How can I get the best photo?

Dr Pearson said: “What you want to have is to be somewhere, if you can, that’s away from any light pollution.

“So, standing in your road or in the middle of the street isn’t going to get you as good results as somewhere remote. The darker the sky the better the effect will be”.

How special is this?

“It’s pretty rare.

“It’s not just a supermoon. It’s a supermoon combined with an eclipse and combined with a harvest moon.

“The next partial eclipse is in 2026 and then I think the next conjunction like this one is going to be 2033, so that’s a fair while in the future”.

What is a supermoon?

“The orbit of the moon is not circular; it actually goes around in an oval shape which means that the moon is closer to the earth than other times.

“So, a supermoon is when the moon is actually at its closest point to earth in orbit and being so close it makes the moon somewhere between 7-10% larger and between 15-30% brighter than what you would see for a typical full moon.

“These supermoons are not so rare. You get four supermoons a year and this particular supermoon is the second that we will have this year with the first being in August".

What is a partial lunar eclipse?

“A partial lunar eclipse happens when only a part of the moon passes through the earth’s shadows.

“So, you won’t see the moon completely blacked out but we will see a small portion of it, maybe around four or five percent in earth’s shadow.

“What we will see is a nice light effect is also a nice light effect as the sunlight from behind the earth on the day side shines through our atmosphere and can actually give a kind of red to the sky”.

What is a 'harvest moon'?

Full moons are given a name every month linked to aspects of life in the month which they occur.

The harvest moon is the name given to the full moon that occurs nearest to the autumn equinox, which this year occurs on 22 September.