海角大神

The last of a rare 鈥渢etrad鈥� of dramatic moon eclipses this year will occur in primetime聽Sunday聽night.

But who will get to see it?

Weather forecasts indicate that a lot of Americans will have to wait another 18 years to have the chance to actually see a red-tinted "Super Harvest Moon Lunar Eclipse."

Unlike many stellar events - such as meteor showers or solar eclipses 鈥� the full lunar eclipse should be visible anywhere across the US, and without any special equipment, from the star-studded skies of Nebraska to neon-lit Times Square.

But the rare combination of a total lunar eclipse with a full harvest moon, all added to the 鈥渟uper moon鈥� effect of the satellite鈥檚 unique close proximity to the Earth, has one major nemesis: A glum conglomeration of clouds and rain laid across a swath from New York to Houston, including large parts of the Ohio River Valley and the Appalachians, as well as parts of the Great Lakes.

鈥淚t really doesn鈥檛 look great鈥� for the Atlanta area and much of the Eastern Seaboard, in part thanks to a wet low pressure system pressing northward from the Gulf of Mexico, says David Nadler, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service鈥檚 regional office in Peachtree City, Ga.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is forecasting that nearly a third of the US mainland will have sky cover, according to the latest check of the agency鈥檚 National Digital Forecast Database.聽

Given that the cloud cover will appear over some of America鈥檚 most populous areas,聽Sunday鈥檚聽special lunar event will be more exclusive than many Americans would like. Individually, supermoons and lunar eclipses aren't particularly rare. But the last time a supermoon coincided with a total eclipse was 1982. The next such event will happen in 2033.

But don't cancel the eclipse viewing party yet.

For those watching from west of the Mississippi River as well as most of New England, conditions are setting up perfectly, according to the National Weather Service. Those areas are expected to have clear, star-lit skies as the eclipse begins shortly after聽9 p.m. EDT聽on Sunday.

Especially across the East Coast, the moon will take on a reddish hue as the earth鈥檚 shadow fits itself over the moon, giving watchers a rare reflection of Earth鈥檚 existence.

The reddish tint basically encompasses 鈥渁ll of the sunrises and sunsets across the world, all at once, being reflected off the surface of the moon,鈥� as Sarah Noble,聽a NASA program scientist, tells the New York Times.

鈥淗ow the moon will appear during totality is not known,鈥� writes Space.com skywatch correspondent Joe Rao. 鈥淪ome eclipses are such a dark gray-black color that the moon nearly vanishes from view. At other eclipses it can glow a bright orange.鈥� He writes that the event has a 鈥渉ypnotizing beauty.鈥�
If the National Weather Service sky cover predictions for much of the Eastern Seaboard hold true, disappointed sky watchers have other options. For one, the Slooh Community Observatory聽(online observations from a global network of telescopes)聽will offer high-definition footage of the event. Space.com will also have live coverage.