A red-orange "supermoon" lit up the heavens Sunday night, as the moon passed through the Earth's shadow in the first total eclipse of a fall harvest moon seen in decades.
The occurrence is a rare celestial cocktail that combines a full moon at its closest approach to Earth – also known as a supermoon, because of its larger and brighter appearance – and a lunar eclipse.
According to Rob Thacker, an astrophysics professor at Saint Mary's University, as the moon passes through the Earth's shadow during an eclipse, sunlight peeking around the edges of the Earth often causes the moon to take on a red-orange hue, also known as a "blood moon."
"That's basically all of the light from every single sunset and sunrise from the Earth landing on the moon," said Thacker.
"It is just going to look really cool and I'm really excited to see it."
People photograph as a "supermoon" begins to rise in Mississauga, Ont., on Sunday, September 27, 2015. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nathan Denette)
The 'supermoon' rises in Mir, Belarus. (AP / Sergei Grits)
People watch the 'supermoon' rise in Berlin, Germany. (AP / Gero Breloer)
Thacker isn't the only member of the astronomy community excited about Sunday's celestial show.
Andrew Fazekas, an astronomy columnist for the National Geographic, told CTV News Channel stargazers will witness "wonderful celestial ballet playing out before our eyes."
"The sun, the Earth and the moon will be in the perfect alignment," said Fazekas.
Fazekas said people can expect to see moon slowly glide through the shadow of the Earth, taking "bigger and bigger bites" along the way.
"That shadow will slowly creep across the surface over about an hour and a half until it has completely engulfed the moon inside the Earth's shadow," said Fazekas.
"That's when it turns orange-red, or blood-red, in colour."
On the East Coast, all the action kicked off at 9:07 ET, as the partial eclipse began.
The supermoon is shown low on the horizon on Parliament Hill. (Fred Chartrand / THE CANADIAN PRESS)
Fazekas says that the supermoon will be at its "deepest orange-reddish colour" at about 10:47 ET, when it will be at mid-eclipse.
The eclipse will pass through five main stages at the following times:
- Partial eclipse at 9:07 p.m. ET
- Total eclipse at 10:11 p.m. ET
- Mid-eclipse at 10:47 p.m. ET
- Total eclipse ends at 11:23 p.m. ET
- Partial eclipse ends at 12:27 a.m. ET
Experts say that the timing of the eclipse will allow most Canadians to catch a glimpse. However, those on the West Coast will miss the early stages because the moon will be low in the sky during the sunset.
"A lot of the major cosmopolitan cities across Canada will be able to see this event, at least … the exciting part of totality when the moon does turn blood-red," said Fazekas.
"Especially through the corridor between Montreal and Toronto – (it) looks like the forecast in Toronto is fantastic."
The most recent supermoon eclipses came in 1982, 1964, 1946, 1928 and 1910.
People who missed out on Sunday's show will have wait until 2033 for the next celestial double feature.
The next total eclipse is set to occur in 2018, but will only be viewable by Canadians on the West Coast, says Fazekas. However, people in Eastern Canada should be able see one a year later.
With files from The Canadian Press and CTV Atlantic Bureau Chief Todd Battis
