Moonrise #3261
Plymouth Harbor, MA
For this shot I used an app on my phone that points to the exact location on the horizon that the moon will rise. This allowed me to set up my shot ahead of time. The app works for any day of the year and any location on Earth.
Super Harvest Blood Moon #2200
Perigee is the point in the Moon’s orbit where it is closest to Earth. This occurs once every 29.5 days. When a full moon coincides with perigee it is commonly called a Supermoon. Because the Moon is closer it appears about 14% larger and about 30% brighter than when it’s at the point furthest from the Earth (apogee). There are usually three or four Supermoons in a year.
A Blood Moon occurs when the Moon is in total lunar eclipse. It’s called Blood Moon because of the Moon’s red-orange hue caused by the eclipse. On average, a Blood Moon can be seen from any given location every 2.5 years.
A Super Blood Moon occurs when a Supermoon coincides with a Blood Moon. These are rare events.
A Harvest Moon is the full moon that takes place closest to the autumnal equinox, and occurs once a year. For me, the significance of this is that on those cool, crisp nights in the Fall there is usually very little humidity, which improves visibility.
A Super Harvest Blood Moon occurs when all these things happen simultaneously. What are the chances that this would happen during your lifetime? Extremely rare. But, it happened on the night of September 27, 2015.
The above image is actually a composite of six separate photos superimposed in photoshop, taken in my backyard in Sandwich, MA.
Full Moon Behind the Mayflower II #3597
Plymouth, MA
Full Moon #2198