--- title: Here's Why Sunday's Lunar Eclipse is Called a "Supermoon" description: Sunday's Supermoon explained canonical: https://time.com/4044307/supermoon-lunar-eclipse/ author: Daniel White article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-09-22T16:14:36.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-05-11T05:01:33.206Z article:section: Science og:title: How to See a Once-in-a-Generation Supermoon Eclipse This Weekend og:description: TIME will be livestreaming Sunday's lunar eclipse og:url: https://time.com/4044307/supermoon-lunar-eclipse/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt97145e6cf570e500/698864c0f887dcca73e927ce/supermoon.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: First supermoon og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: How to See a Once-in-a-Generation Supermoon Eclipse This Weekend twitter:description: TIME will be livestreaming Sunday's lunar eclipse twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt97145e6cf570e500/698864c0f887dcca73e927ce/supermoon.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # How to See a Once-in-a-Generation Supermoon Eclipse This Weekend by [Daniel White](https://time.com/author/daniel-white/) ## Daniel White Sep 22, 2015 4:14 PM UTC  The supermoon is seen from Turkey's Ankara on Aug. 31, 2015. The supermoon is seen from Turkey's Ankara on Aug. 31, 2015.Anadolu Agency—Getty Images by [Daniel White](https://time.com/author/daniel-white/) ## Daniel White Sep 22, 2015 4:14 PM UTC Three decades have passed since the last time Earth was witness to the triple crown of lunar events — a full moon, a lunar eclipse, and a lunar perigee all at the same time — and now people in north America will be able to see a “supermoon eclipse” this weekend. A lunar eclipse is when the Earth comes between the full moon and the sun. Although completely in the Earth’s shadow, the moon still receives a bit of reddish sunlight. Unlike a solar eclipse, there’s no special equipment needed to view it. A supermoon is when the moon is in perigee, or the closest point to the Earth it will reach. Sunday’s moon will be about 14% larger than normal, according to NASA. There have only been five times since 1900 where the supermoon has coincided with a total lunar eclipse— and the next won’t happen for another 18 years. Begin looking to the moon around 8 p.m. EDT on Sunday Sept 27, with the total eclipse setting in around 10 p.m. But if there’s cloud cover or you’re unable to get to a clear patch of sky then a livestream will be on TIME.com, hosted by Slooh. The stream will be hosted by Paul Cox and Bob Berman. ### Here are the Best Photos from Cassini's Mission to Saturn  The spinning vortex of Saturn's north polar storm on Nov. 27, 2012\. Taken using a combination of spectral filters sensitive to wavelengths of near-infrared light. NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute  Saturn's lonely moon, Mimas on Nov. 30, 2004. AFP/Getty Images  The rings of Saturn captured by Cassini before it entered the orbit on 21 Jun. 2004. SSPL/Getty Images  A view of Saturn's moon Dione, taken during a close flyby on Jun. 16, 2015. NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute  The moons Titan, Mimas, and Rhea, captured by Cassini in this image released on Jun. 22, 2015. NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute  A geyser basin at the south pole of Enceladus on Nov. 30, 2010. NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute  A huge northern storm on Saturn In mid-Sept. 2004. Barcroft Media/Getty Images  Chasms on Dione. The image was taken in visible light with the Cassini spacecraft narrow-angle camera on April 11, 2015. NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute  Pandora on the edge of Saturn's ring on Nov. 8, 2009. NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute  View of Saturn's rings as they surround the planet. Universal History Archive—UIG/Getty Images  The Earth and the moon photographed by NASA's Cassini spacecraft on Jul. 19, 2013. NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute  Pale, icy Dione, taken on Oct. 11, 2005. NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute—NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute  Red arcs in the northern area of Tethys on April 2015. NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute  An aurora on Saturn. The composite image was made from 65 individual observations by Cassini's visual and infrared mapping spectrometer on Nov. 1, 2008\. The observations were each six minutes long. NASA/SSPL/Getty Images  The Cassini spacecraft captured the storms at Saturn's north pole in this false color image released in April 2013\. The storm appears dark red while the fast-moving hexagonal jet stream framing it is a yellowish green. Low-lying clouds circling inside the hexagonal feature appear in orange. A second, smaller vortex pops out in teal at the lower right of the image. The rings of Saturn appear in vivid blue at the top right. NASA/JPL-Caltech/SSI  Saturn's moon Enceladus brightly reflects sunlight before a backdrop of the planet's rings. Universal History Archive/UIG/Getty Images  The Cassini spacecraft observed three of Saturn's moons set against the night side of the planet in this image from April 2011. NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute  Phoebe, captured during Cassini's flyby on Jun. 11, 2004. NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute  Five moons of Saturn dominated by Rhea in the foreground on Jan. 11, 2011. NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute—NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute  The Cassini spacecraft takes one of its last good looks at Iapetus, a Saturnian moon. UIG/Getty Images  Saturn's moon Hyperion, taken during a close flyby on May 31, 2015\. This flyby marks the mission's final close approach to Saturn's largest irregularly shaped moon. NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute  The Cassini spacecraft captures a glimpse of the moon Atlas shortly after emerging from Saturn's shadow on Jan. 23, 2014. NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute  Mimas, Dione and Titan on May 27, 2015\. The image is taken using a spectral filter which preferentially admits wavelengths of near-infrared light centered at 728 nanometers NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute  A swing high above Saturn by NASA's Cassini spacecraft revealed this stately view of the golden-hued planet and its main rings on Oct. 10, 2013. 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