Clear skies, for once, enabled stargazers and night owls all over the country to enjoy a rather unusual astronomical phenomenon last night.
A so-called Supermoon coincided with a total lunar eclipse, an event which has not happened since 1982, and will not come around again until 2033.
The supermoon phenomenon occurs when the moon is full at its perigee, that is, the closest point of its orbit around Earth (226,000 miles). The relatively short distance makes the moon appear larger than usual.
The beauty of this gigantic Harvest Moon presided over the night sky, a beauty only temporarily obscured by the Earth’s shadow. Some believe such event marks the beginning of the end of civilization. While this is rather unlikely, the truth remains that last night’s spectacle was worth staying up for.