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On the night of May 25-27, star-watchers in Hawaii, Asia, and Antarctica will better able to view the total eclipse of the supermoon. May’s full moon is known as a Blood Moon. And it will be 2021’s only total eclipse.

Space.com reports that there is no astronomical significance to the blood moon event. There are two to four lunar eclipses annually, and each one appears to over half the Earth. This month’s eclipse will span two days because the visibility area includes the international dateline. 

It will make for amazing viewing. And the usually silver-white moon will appear slightly red since the Earth’s shadow will reflect on its surface.

Lunar eclipses

A lunar eclipse occurs when the moon is on the opposite side of the Earth and the sun. This is when we see a full moon. But on rare occasions, the moon enters the Earth's shadow. And that results in an eclipse. Since the plane of the moons’ orbit tilts at 5 degrees most full moons are out of the way of the Earth’s shadow.

 In Asia, the eclipse occurs near at moonrise. On the west coast of the U.S., the eclipse happens nearer moonset, or in the early morning hours. The best viewing will be in between those two extremes: Australia, New Zealand, Hawaii, the islands of the South Pacific, and southwestern Alaska. 

The May 2021 lunar eclipse will have a little larger appearance because the moon will reach the perigee. This means it reaches the closest point in its orbit to Earth, on May 25.

When the full moon and perigee are that close, it is termed a Supermoon. The moon size is just slightly larger when it is closer, so most skywatchers may not spot the difference.For observers in the United States, the only places where the Blood Moon eclipse is visible is in Hawaii or Alaska. You can look at NASA's Eclipse Page to see when all the eclipses are coming through 2030.