Danes get clear skies for supermoon phenomenon
The Local Denmark - [email protected]
Published: 28 Sep, 2015 CET.
Updated: Mon 28 Sep 2015 08:11 CET
Early-rising Danes were treated to spectacular views of the rare supermoon eclipse thanks to clear skies over the country.
Some things are worth losing sleep over. Many Danes either woke up incredibly early or stayed up well into the wee hours to see the rare supermoon eclipse that occurred early Monday morning.
Unlike the March solar eclipse that was obscured by clouds over Denmark, Monday’s rare celestial spectacle played out under clear conditions.
“It has been quite good over most of the country. A few places had some drifting clouds – for example over Esbjerg and Varde,” DMI meteorologist Mogens Rønnebæk told Ritzau.
Astrophysicist Michael Lindel-Vørnle from DTU Space, the national space institute at the Technical University of Denmark, said the lost sleep was well worth it.
“Here in Hvidore [a Copenhagen suburb, ed.], where I am it was very clear. It was a very dark eclipse with hints of orange,” he told Ritzau.
The eclipse began over Denmark at 3.07am with the total eclipse beginning at 4.11am in the Copenhagen area.
The supermoon happens when the full moon reaches its closest point to Earth on its orbit around us, making it look both bigger and brighter than normal.
And on Monday the phenomenon coincided with a total lunar eclipse, which also saw the moon develop a reddish colour – a so-called 'blood moon'.
Lindel-Vørnle said the hype around the moon’s colour may not have fully matched the reality.
“It wasn’t a so-called blood moon like it was sold. People were given the impression that they could expect a very, very red moon, which was incorrect. People who had that impression may have felt a little shortchanged,” he said.
If you missed it you will have to wait until 2033 for another chance at seeing a supermoon coincide with a total lunar eclipse, according to Nasa.
Watching the #SuperBloodMoon? Snap a picture & enter our photo contest on @facebook! Details: http://t.co/PuMZ4fv1lF pic.twitter.com/YzdMp65DFY
— NASA (@NASA) September 28, 2015
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Some things are worth losing sleep over. Many Danes either woke up incredibly early or stayed up well into the wee hours to see the rare supermoon eclipse that occurred early Monday morning.
Unlike the March solar eclipse that was obscured by clouds over Denmark, Monday’s rare celestial spectacle played out under clear conditions.
“It has been quite good over most of the country. A few places had some drifting clouds – for example over Esbjerg and Varde,” DMI meteorologist Mogens Rønnebæk told Ritzau.
Astrophysicist Michael Lindel-Vørnle from DTU Space, the national space institute at the Technical University of Denmark, said the lost sleep was well worth it.
“Here in Hvidore [a Copenhagen suburb, ed.], where I am it was very clear. It was a very dark eclipse with hints of orange,” he told Ritzau.
The eclipse began over Denmark at 3.07am with the total eclipse beginning at 4.11am in the Copenhagen area.
The supermoon happens when the full moon reaches its closest point to Earth on its orbit around us, making it look both bigger and brighter than normal.
And on Monday the phenomenon coincided with a total lunar eclipse, which also saw the moon develop a reddish colour – a so-called 'blood moon'.
Lindel-Vørnle said the hype around the moon’s colour may not have fully matched the reality.
“It wasn’t a so-called blood moon like it was sold. People were given the impression that they could expect a very, very red moon, which was incorrect. People who had that impression may have felt a little shortchanged,” he said.
If you missed it you will have to wait until 2033 for another chance at seeing a supermoon coincide with a total lunar eclipse, according to Nasa.
Watching the #SuperBloodMoon? Snap a picture & enter our photo contest on @facebook! Details: http://t.co/PuMZ4fv1lF pic.twitter.com/YzdMp65DFY
— NASA (@NASA) September 28, 2015
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