Katie LinkIf you've waited your whole life to see a supermoon lunar eclipse, you're in luck. If you have no idea what I'm talking about, let me explain.
Mark your calendars for Sept. 27 if you're on our side of the planet, and Sept. 28 if you're overseas, because all of us earthlings are in for a treat.
Well, either that, or we're doomed.
According to online posts by religious theorists, the supermoon lunar eclipse also lines up with an asteroid apocalypse.
There's also the Blood Moon prophecy. Followers of this prophecy think a pattern of moon events, including the one this weekend, signal the end of the world as it is described in certain passages of the New Testament. Luckily, according to a NASA manager, we should be in the clear.
That manager told Forbes, "There is no scientific basis — not even one shred of evidence — that an asteroid or any other celestial object will impact Earth on those dates."
Well, good.
Back to the science behind the supermoon lunar eclipse. There are two players in this game. One is the supermoon. A moon is considered "super" when a full moon reaches the closest point to Earth on its elliptical orbit. This makes it appear about 14 percent larger and about 30 percent brighter.
The other player is the lunar eclipse. These happen fairly often — just not at the same time as a supermoon. A lunar eclipse happens when the moon passes directly behind the Earth into the shadow the planet casts from the Sun. (Video via NASA)
Two-for-one sky shows like these are rare. It's only happened five times since 1910, and scientists say it won't happen again until 2029.
According to Earthsky.org, if you're in North America, you should head outside around 9:07 p.m. Eastern time to see the start of the show.
This video includes images from Getty Images and halfrain / CC BY-SA 2.0 and NASA / CC BY 2.0.
