A strange ring has appeared around the moon in the days leading up to Halloween.
This year, Halloween falls on a Friday, which means that some people may be looking forward to a four-day weekend. But if you were hoping for an especially spooky experience this Halloween, you might want to look up at the sky at night and see if you can spot a ring around the moon. The phenomenon is being called “the harvest moon eclipse” and it’s not just limited to those who live in North America. The harvest moon eclipse will be visible across most of the world.
The reason why this is being called an eclipse is because there will be a total lunar eclipse that coincides with the full moon on October 27th. While this would normally make it hard to see any sort of lunar ring, something about this year’s eclipse makes it easier to spot than usual. The last time there was a total lunar eclipse that coincided with a full moon was back in 1982 and that was also visible from North America.
In order for people in other parts of the world to see this unusual event, they’ll have to look at the sky during moonset or moonset plus 30 minutes. This gives everyone plenty of time after sunset before heading off for trick-or-treating or getting ready for bed.
