(Reporter) On Sunday night you're going want to go outside and look up
at the moon. That's because we have two special things happening, we have
a super moon and a total lunar eclipse happening
in the evening. Here to tell us more about what this is and what will see
is Dr. Jennifer Heldman, at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, thanks for
joining us. (Dr. Heldman) Thank you for having me. (Reporter) So, we have a rare
event happening on Sunday September 27th, what are we going to see?
(Dr. Heldman) Right, so we have this special cosmic treat happening, we have a super moon
total lunar eclipse. First with the total lunar eclipse what we'll be seeing is the
moon will be moving into the shadow of the Earth. So we will start with
nice bright white full moon that we are used to seeing and then as the moon moves into
the shadow of the Earth it will turn a beautiful reddish color. That red color is
cause by a reflexion of all the Sun rises and all the Sun sets on planet Earth.
reflecting off the lunar surface. And then as the moon moves out of the Earth
shadow will then return back to that bright vibrant full moon we are used to seeing.
So that in itself is pretty spectacular but also at the same time
we have a super moon. So a super moon is year's closest total
full moon. So we know is the moon goes around the Earth
but not in a complete perfect circle. Sometimes the moon is further away, sometimes its closer.
And so what we see Sunday night is when the moon is
closest for its full moon of the year. So its pretty rare to have a super moon and
a total lunar eclipse happen at the same time. The last time it happen was 1982
and it won't happen again until 2033, so Sunday night is a great time
for folks to go out and observe the moon. (Reporter) Now we're here
on the east coast, how can we watch this event? (Dr. Heldman) So the best
way to watch the event on the east coast is to go outside and look up at the night sky.
Go look up at the moon. It'll be a little after 9pm.
you should go out and the moon will start to go into the Earth's shadow
Then by about 10 o'clock it'll be fully in shadow and it will last for over
an hour and the moon will move out of the Earth's shadow and return to that bright full
moon we are used to seeing. So if you go outside, maybe go somewhere there is a dark
sky and where there is no large trees or buildings to block your view of the moon
If the weather isn't great or it's cloudy, you can always watch on NASA.gov
we'll be live streaming the entire event. So there's always a place to go see this
special occasion. (Reporter) What are scientists hoping to learn from this
eclipse? (Dr. Heldman) Right, so scientists are every excited for the eclipse, because NASA has
the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, or LRO and that's a spacecraft that's orbiting the moon
right now.So during the eclipse, LRO will be taking very special measurements
Will be measuring the surface temperature of the moon. So before eclipse
starts, we'll measure the temperature of the moon when its in that direct sunlight, baking
in the oven of direct sun. Then we'll move into eclipse, when the lunar surface
is in shadow and it gets very cold in that deep freeze of dark shadow
and then again as the moon comes out of the shadow and back into the sunlight and by
measuring these temperature changes we can tell a lot about the surface of the moon.
how that works and how the moon formed. And then by comparison and how other moons and
planets in our solar system has formed and evolved.
(Reporter) Well the moon looks the same to us day in and day out, but it turns
outs that the moon is quiet dynamic, talk about some of the cool things you are learning.
(Dr. Heldman) That's one of the beautiful things about the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter it's
showing us that the moon is a dynamic and changing place.
You may look up at the moon each night and think it looks the same but with this new data
we're learning that things are changing all the time.
For example there are rocks from space that are hitting the moon
and forming new impact craters on the surface of the moon.
We can see these happening, here's an image right here,
so we have new craters that are forming on the moon.
We also now know there is ice on the moon and water ice
especially near the poles and we never knew that before and now we are learning that
water is moving around on the lunar surface so that's very interesting.
We are also learning that there were volcanoes on the moon much more recently
then we ever thought so the moon had more heat inside of it
and longer then we thought with melted rocks and what not.
So the moon is actually a very dynamic, interesting, and changing place
and we're learning all of this through new data from LRO.
(Reporter) Where can we learn more?
(Dr. Heldman) So there are several places to go learn more
you can go to nasa.gov/LRO to learn more about the LRO mission and what's being learned.
Also you can follow LRO on Twitter @LRO_NASA
to get all the latest and greatest information about the supermoon lunar eclipse
and also lunar studies in general.
(Reporter) Thanks so much for joining us. (Dr. Heldman) Great, thank you very much.