It hasn't happened in 32 years, and won't for another 18 years: Sunday evening, a total lunar eclipse will coincide with a "Supermoon."
A lunar eclipse occurs when the Earth is between the full moon and the sun. The Earth's shadow covers the moon, which often has a red color, hence the "blood" moon nickname.
The total eclipse will start at 10:11 p.m. EDT (7:11 p.m. PDT) Sunday evening and will last one hour and 12 minutes. It will be visible across North and South America, Europe, Africa, and parts of West Asia and the eastern Pacific, NASA said.
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What is uncommon is for a total lunar eclipse to coincide with a Supermoon. There have been just five such events since 1900 (in 1910, 1928, 1946, 1964 and 1982), NASA said.
This is the last total lunar eclipse visible anywhere on Earth until 2018, according to Sky and Telescope. Americans will actually see a total solar eclipse (in Aug. 2017) before the next total lunar eclipse.
