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Norway looks forward to rare supermoon eclipse

The Local Norway
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Norway looks forward to rare supermoon eclipse
A supermoon is the full moon that takes place closest to the Autumn equinox. Photo: Gabriel/Flickr

People across Norway are preparing to rise before 4am on Monday to witness a once-in-a-generation combination of a supermoon and a total lunar eclipse.

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"We have to go back to 1964 to find something similar here in this country, and the next time will be in a very long time. This is quite unique and worth while seeing,"  astrophysicist Jørgen Røed Ødegaard, told Norway's NTB news agency.

Monday's eclipse coincides with the 'harvest moon', the full moon that takes place closest to the autumn equinox, when the sun passes the equator and days in the Northern and Southern hemispheres are equally long. At this time, the moon appears especially close and bright.

As a result of the eclipse it will also be a 'blood moon', where the moon looks red or orange instead of white. 
 
"The red portion of sunlight is what makes it through our atmosphere to the other side, bent toward the eclipsed moon, so that even though the moon is within Earth's shadow, the red portion of the sun's light can give the moon this ghostly illumination," Eric Edelman of Slooh, a community observatory, told AccuWeather.
 
Norwegians will have to wait up or get up early to see the event, with the full eclipse visible between 04.11 and 05.24 on Monday morning.
 
"It will be very fascinating to watch all of the phases of the eclipse, how the colours change. Uranus is visible 15 degrees east of the moon. The brightest planets Venus, Jupiter and Mars will be even more visible. It's good we live in a time where we can enjoy the view without the unnecessary drama and horror of the world's destruction!," said Ødegaard.

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