Conditions Should Be Perfect in St. Cloud For Supermoon Eclipse

ST. CLOUD - Conditons are expected to be perfect for Central Minnesota stargazers on Sunday night to watch a supermoon and total lunar eclipse at the same time.

A supermoon is when a full moon is closest to Earth. Although still 222,000 miles away, the moon will look slightly bigger than usual. The combination of a supermoon and total eclipse hasn't been seen since 1982 and won't happen again until 2033.

Elisha Polomski is an assistant professor of physics and astronomy at St. Cloud State University, she says the moon will look dimmed with an orange-brown color during the eclipse.

"The moon isn't going to be completely disappearing in the eclipse, but it will still be very pretty. The weather looks like it's going to be optimal for us so we're exceptionally lucky."

Polomski says the eclipse will last more than an hour.

"It's going right through the darkest part of the earth's shadow and it's going to be completely enveloped in that shadow for over an hour. So we have a wonderful opportunity to watch this eclipse."

The eclipse should be visible between 9:00 p.m. and 10:00 p.m. Polomski is hosting a free outdoor viewing of the eclipse near the fishing peer at the start of the Beaver Island Trail at 9:00 p.m. Telescopes will be at the event and it's open for anyone to attend.

-This story was written with information from the Associated Press-