2-for-1: Total lunar eclipse comes with supermoon bonus
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — The only total lunar eclipse this year and next came with a supermoon bonus. On Sunday night, the moon, Earth and sun lined up to create the eclipse, which was visible throughout North and South America, where skies were clear. There won't be another until the year 2021.
The different stages of the blood moon and supermoon during a total lunar eclipse in Los Angeles, Sunday, Jan. 20, 2019.
The moon at the four different moments during a total lunar eclipse in Brasilia, Brazil, Monday, Jan. 21, 2019. It's also the year's first supermoon, when a full moon appears a little bigger and brighter thanks to its slightly closer position to Earth.
The moon during a total lunar eclipse, seen from Los Angeles, Sunday Jan. 20, 2019. The entire eclipse will exceed three hours. Totality - when the moon's completely bathed in Earth's shadow - will last an hour. Expect the eclipsed, or blood moon, to turn red from sunlight scattering off Earth's atmosphere.
People watch the supermoon rise behind the downtown Los Angeles skyline, from Kenneth Hahn Park in Los Angeles, Sunday, Jan. 20, 2019. The year's first supermoon, when a full moon appears a little bigger and brighter thanks to its slightly closer position to Earth, is one of two lunar events Sunday. If skies are clear, a total eclipse will also be visible in North and South America, and parts of Europe.
Photographers stage at Kenneth Hahn Park in Los Angeles as they wait to capture the supermoon, Sunday, Jan. 20, 2019. The year's first supermoon, when a full moon appears a little bigger and brighter thanks to its slightly closer position to Earth, is one of two lunar events Sunday. If skies are clear, a total eclipse will also be visible in North and South America, and parts of Europe.
It was also the year's first supermoon, when a full moon appears a little bigger and brighter thanks to its slightly closer position. The entire eclipse took more than three hours. Totality — when the moon's completely bathed in Earth's shadow — lasted an hour. During a total lunar eclipse, the eclipsed, or blood, moon turns red from sunlight scattering off Earth's atmosphere.
In addition to the Americas, the entire lunar extravaganza could be observed, weather permitting, all the way across the Atlantic to parts of Europe.
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