Many skywatchers across the globe were waiting for Sunday night to see a supermoon, the time when the moon is at its closest orbit to earth. Finally, the rare celestial event came when people could see a 14% bigger moon. Sunday’s supermoon is combined with a lunar eclipse, which made the event even more exciting.

Several people around the world enjoyed the views in the skies to observe a rare double celestial treat. People watched a total lunar eclipse turning the moon red in color.

Lunar eclipses are not rare, but it is really rare to see a supermoon eclipse. Since 1990, there were only five supermoon eclipses. The last time when stargazers at earth observed a supermoon eclipse was in 1982. According to experts, such an event will not take place until 2033.

While providing more information on celestial event, Derek Buzasi, Whitaker Eminent Scholar in the College of Arts and Sciences at Florida Gulf Coast University, said, “Solar eclipses get a lot more press because they’re more rare and it’s strange to see the sun disappear, but the lunar is neat because of the color and they last longer”.

People from the United States, Canada, Africa, western Asia and Europe were able to see the rare event on Sunday night or early Monday. On the night of September 27, many people saw a super moon rising in the sky near the Eiffel tower in Paris.

“I like to think about the fact that we see the lunar eclipse and they see the solar eclipse,” Buzasi said. “And you can imagine it; the earth moving across the sun. That would be spectacular.”

“It’s unusual for that to happen during an eclipse,” Buzasi said. “That only happens on average maybe every 20 or 25 years when we have this type of alignment.”

“Eclipses are always cool,” Buzasi said. “It doesn’t matter how many you’ve seen, it’s always magical.”