The next one will happen 30 years from now.
While this rare celestial occurrence is a highly anticipated one, rumors - of the apocalyptic kind - surround this month's "supermoon eclipse."
Technically, this is the fourth Blood Moon of the year and those who believe in the Blood Moon Prophecy fear that it may be the sign of the apocalypse as reported by Mirror UK.
Many biblical theorists maintain the event will trigger the Rapture and the start of a seven-year-tribulation. These theories, which are restricted to tiny minority of churches and groups, have been dismissed by scientists and are thought to be well wide of the mark.
Science and the community who constitute it dismiss the supernatural claims. Even NASA has their take regarding the "belief": "The only thing that will happen on Earth during an eclipse is that people will wake up the next morning with neck pain because they spent the night looking up," quips deputy project scientist for the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center Noah Petro as per Space.com.
On Sept. 27, a Supermoon eclipse will grace the night sky. Considered as the first supermoon eclipse since 1982, this rare occurrence will be visible to skywatchers throughout North and South America, Europe, Africa, western Asia and the eastern Pacific Ocean region, according to Space.com.
"On Sept. 27, we're going to have a perigee full moon - the closest full moon of the year," Petro affirms in a statement. "When the moon is farthest away, it's known as apogee, and when it's closest, it's known as perigee," he informs.
When the moon reaches its full phase at the same time as it hits its closest approach to Earth, it is termed a Supermoon. Space.com reports:
The moon is about 31,000 miles (50,000 kilometers) closer to Earth at perigee than it is at apogee. As a result, perigee full moons, also known as supermoons, appear about 14 percent bigger and 30 percent brighter in the sky than do apogee full moons (which are also called minimoons).
"There's no physical difference in the moon," Petro furthers, as per Space.com. "It just appears slightly bigger in the sky. It's not dramatic, but it does look larger."
Mirror UK says that the moon will be at its brightest at around 2am on the morning of September 28.
Although the event is a spectacle on its own, what makes it a must-watch a second lunar phenomenon called the Blood Moon. NASA officials, as per Space.com says that it is uncommon for a total lunar eclipse to coincide with a supermoon and there have been just five events recorded since 1900 (in 1910, 1928, 1946, 1964 and 1982).
Mirror UK furthers:
We will witness a lunar eclipse as the moon falls completely within the Earth's shadow during its passage. When the direct light from the sun is blocked, the moon will turn a reddish colour as it instead reflects the sunsets and sunrises happening on Earth.
The lunar eclipse is expected to last for approximately one hour and 12 minutes.
Start Time
Space.com says that the supermoon will begin to dim slightly at 8:11 p.m. EDT on Sept. 27 (0011 GMT on Sept. 28), NASA officials said. The total eclipse will start at 10:11 p.m. EDT (0211 GMT), and it will last 72 minutes.
Live Streaming
The Supermoon Lunar Eclipse 2015: Full 'Blood Moon' Coverage can be monitored here.