The moon is expected to be especially large during the eclipse on the night of Sukkot (Monday morning)

Super-eclipse: a combination of a lunar eclipse (and hence also a full moon) and the proximity of the moon to the lowest point in its orbit creates a phenomenon known as a super-moon

Watch the eclipse and help investigate global warming with a very simple experiment

Sukkot, like Purim, Pesach and Tu Bab, begins on the night of the full moon - the middle of the Hebrew month, but when the moon is full, once every few months, depending on the geometry of the moon's orbit around the earth and both around the sun, a lunar eclipse occurs.

In the upcoming Sukkot, on the night between Sunday and the second, when actually on Monday, September 28 in the morning, a total lunar eclipse will occur, but since the moon will also be near the closest point in its orbit to the Earth, it will also appear especially large, a phenomenon known as a supermoon (SUPERMOON). This is according to the Universe Today website.

About ten minutes after three in the morning, the Earth's shadow will begin to cause the Moon to enter the penumbral eclipse phase - the phase when the Moon enters the area where the Earth's shadow makes it appear paler, but still full. At 04:07 the partial eclipse phase will begin in which the Earth's shadow slowly covers the moon until at 05:11 it will completely cover it and the total eclipse phase will begin that will reach its peak (ie the deepest part of the shadow cone at 05:47. The total eclipse phase will end at 06:23. The opposite phases, until the rediscovery of the full moon, we will no longer be able to see from Tel Aviv according to NASA data. The moon will set when it is damaged.

The full moon near the autumn solstice (this year on September 23) is called a harvest moon. But in addition to that, by complete coincidence, on that exact night the moon reaches Phrygia - the closest point in its orbit. This is the closest approach of the moon to the earth in the entire year 2015 (the moon approaches the earth once in each orbit but there is a difference between the distances in the different months). A harvest moon eclipse is also a relatively rare phenomenon. The last time this happened was in 1982 and the next one will be in 2033.
The average distance of the moon from the earth is 386 thousand kilometers, but next Sunday it will approach to a distance of 356,876 km and therefore will appear 8% larger than usual.

A total lunar eclipse occurs when the Sun, Earth, and Moon align in exactly this order. The sun's rays (white lines) hit the Earth's atmosphere, which absorbs their light and turns it red. This red light is reflected from the Earth's atmosphere and hits the Moon, so we see it in red-tinged colors during the total eclipse. Photo: NASA with additions by UNIVERSE TODAY.

Lunar eclipses occur 2-3 times a year and are visible wherever the moon shines at the same time, about half of the Earth's surface. If the moon's orbit was not inclined by 5.1 degrees relative to the earth's orbit, we would see a total eclipse every time the moon is full, that is, every month (Hebrew), however in practice the full moon misses the earth's shadow when it passes a few degrees north or south of the shadow cone.

By the way, the opposite of a lunar eclipse is a solar eclipse that occurs at the birth of the moon, and indeed on Rosh Hashanah there was a solar eclipse visible mainly in South Africa and Antarctica. This is no coincidence, because both eclipses require that the Sun, Earth and Moon align in one plane, and usually a difference of two weeks still does not change the picture enough, so the second luminary is also impaired.

The phases of the eclipse and the schedule for observers in Tel Aviv. From the NASA website

*The moon will be below the horizon for part of the eclipse, luckily for us, the main part - the total eclipse phase - will be fully visible.

Observations and lectures in preparation for the eclipse

In preparation for the event, the Israel Space Agency at the Ministry of Science and the Israel Astronomical Society are holding moon observations and lectures for the whole family on Saturday evening, September 24 and 26, at six different observatories across the country. The entrance is free of charge. Details in the link. The eclipse that will occur on the night of Sukkot will be visible from anywhere in the country with the naked eye.

The moon moves around the earth in an elliptical orbit and is inclined at an angle of 5 degrees. The closest point in front of the Earth is called the perigee and the farthest point is the apogee," explains Dr. Diana Lauper, an expert on behalf of the Israel Space Agency at the Ministry of Science, "when the moon is at the apogee it is 405,696 km away from us, and when it is at the perigee it is 363,104 km from us. A full moon is seen once every 29.3 days, when the earth is between the moon and the sun, in the middle of each Hebrew month. The combination between these two events, when the moon appears full and is at the point of waning, occurs several times a year. The combination of a full moon with a perigee during a total eclipse is rare, and it only happens once every many years. The red color of the moon during an eclipse depends on the amount of light passing through the atmosphere."

For the news in Universe Today