South Korea's Chuseok Festival Made More Memorable With Rare Spectacle of A Supermoon Lunar Eclipse

by Therese Agcopra / Sep 30, 2015 11:15 AM EDT

This year's Chuseok festivities in South Korea were made all the merrier with the once-in-a-lifetime celestial spectacle of a rare supermoon lunar eclipse.

The Telegraph reports Sept. 29 that the supermoon phenomenon takes place when the moon reaches its perigee, the part of the moon's orbit that is nearest to the Earth. This results in the moon's largest appearance as seen from Earth.

This year, the distance between the Earth and the moon closed in at approximately 356,800 kilometers, Business Korea writes Sept. 25. That means the moon is about 23,000 kilometers closer to the Earth than to its average distance.

The previous supermon lunar eclipse took place in 1982, and its next appearance will be in 2033

Coinciding with the appearance of the beautiful "blood moon" is the Chinese Moon Festival. According to the New Zealand Herald, Chinese people believe a full moon symbolizes peace, prosperity, and the union of families. This holiday is celebrated on a night in mid-autumn when the moon is at its brightest and fullest, and it falls on Sept. 27 this year.

South Koreans also celebrate the Chinese Moon Festival where it is locally known as Chuseok. The Japanese call it Tsukimi.

In South Korea, Chuseok is a day of thanksgiving. It is a time for reunions and families sharing a feast of traditional Korean food and rice win. In line with the Chuseok festival and the supermoon lunar eclipse, Lotte Corporation is holding the "Lotte World Tower Super Moon Photo Contest" where photographers can send in their photos of the supermoon for a chance to win special prizes.

"The supermoon eclipse will make this year's festival most auspicious because they believe is that the bigger and rounder the moon, the stronger the bond and unity is for families," said Dr. Henry Chung, China affairs specialist at Massey University in New Zealand. It is also said that the brighter the moon, the more prosperous the year will be.

This in North America, South America, West Africa and Western Europe were also able to witness the phenomenon. Unfortunately for those in Australia and New Zealand, the closest they'll get to a blood moon sighting is on social media.