Sunlight bent around Earth and beamed a dusty-orange image of the planet on a swollen harvest moon, captivating millions of people Sunday night, including thousands across Colorado.
“It’s different,” said college student David Mesker, 19, off his skateboard for a bit in northwest Denver.
“Incredible,” said Maria Robles, 40, remembering when she was a girl in a Mexican village during a solar eclipse. Her grandmother saw the change in light, recognized an omen and ordered her swiftly indoors.
“It is natural,” Robles said. “But when I was little, I was scared.”
They were among about 200 who stood together on the campus at Regis University with telescopes and looked up in awe. Others searched for light-free areas in the mountains such as Horsetooth Reservoir, west of Fort Collins.
Sunday’s super blood harvest moon — visible across the world from Los Angeles to Lahore — resulted from a rare celestial trifecta. First, this was the first autumnal moon after the equinox Wednesday. Second, because the moon had reached the closest point to Earth (perigee) on its elliptical orbit, astronomers designated it a “supermoon” — appearing about 14 percent larger and 30 percent brighter than usual. Third, these events coincided with a total lunar eclipse with Earth aligning between the sun and the moon.
The chemical composition of Earth’s atmosphere, containing soot and dust, made the refracted sunlight appear orange against the moon.
“That curved, dark shadow, that is the Earth. That is definitely the curve of our own Earth. The Greeks knew the Earth was round due to the shape of that shadow,” said Regis astrophysics professor Quyen Hart, who hosted the gathering in northwest Denver.
Historically, volcanic eruptions could make so-called blood moons appear bloodier “if there were more particulates in the atmosphere,” Hart said. “What makes sunsets more red are bigger-size particles.”
Traditional and ancient societies often associated blood moons with omens. Some in the western United States on Sunday warned of a possible apocalypse. As far back as the Babylonians, in what is now Iraq, people have tried to anticipate and interpret moons. Savvy rulers who tracked lunar patterns could take advantage and bolster their power.
Astronomers said Sunday’s celestial combination hasn’t happened since 1982 and won’t happen again until 2033.
For Porshai Campbell, 29, that was motivation to drive her daughter, Ashira, 11, and nephew, Alexander, 8, over to the Regis telescopes. Peering out the car window, they saw the shadow starting shortly after sunset — “this is amazing,” “awesome” — and they calculated how old they’d be at the next super blood moon. And Ashira, pressing her smartphone against the largest telescope, took a picture.
Bruce Finley: 303-954-1700, bfinley@denverpost.com or @finleybruce
