If you didn’t manage to snag a seat on Qantas’s one-off supermoon flight, then you definitely saw it all over Instagram last night; something The Chaser quickly parodied.
Local Instagram user shares stunning image of blurry blob
— The Chaser (@chaser) May 26, 2021
On May 26, between 9:00 pm and 9:30 pm, we Australians were privy to the exceptional sight of a super blood moon. No, it has nothing to do with vampires, or wolves (that we know of) — it was, what The Sydney Morning Herald called the “rare coming together” of a supermoon and a lunar eclipse. In fact, this exact occurrence we may not see clearly for another number of years.
If you’re sitting here wondering “what is a supermoon?” space.com has the answer — it’s “when the full moon coincides with the moon’s closest approach to Earth in its orbit.” As for what it means, moon wise? The moon will “appear a little brighter and closer than normal, although the difference is hard to spot with the naked eye.”
And a lunar eclipse? Once again, space.com has you covered: “The moon travels through Earth’s shadow as our planet is directly in between the sun and our natural, rocky satellite.” In a total lunar eclipse, which occurred last night, “the moon and sun are on exact opposite sides of the Earth and the moon is completely engulfed in Earth’s shadow.”
If you were feeling a little witchy last night because of this rare occurrence (whomst amongst us, wasn’t?), last night actually isn’t a night for charging your crystals — yes, it should occur on a full moon, but not a lunar eclipse. This special type of moon is for “letting go”, not for manifesting.
Regardless, last night was a beautiful sight — so much so, that we’ve rounded up some of our favourite images of the event.
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