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Supermoon expected to be visible in South Carolina

We won't get the full show that others parts of the world will, but it will still be something to look out for.

COLUMBIA, S.C. — We won't get as spectacular view as some parts of the world, but South Carolina residents will still be able to see the supermoon Tuesday night into Wednesday morning. 

The moon will be more than 220,000 miles (357,460 kilometers) away at its fullest. It's this proximity, combined with a full moon, that qualifies it as a supermoon, making it appear slightly bigger and more brilliant in the sky. 

Last month's supermoon, by contrast, was 96 miles (155 kilometers) more distant.

There is forecast cloud cover in the early evening hours, but News19 Chief Meteorologist Efren Afante says you could see the larger moon as we get closer to 11 p.m. and through 1 a.m.  There will be another window between 4 a.m. and 5 a.m. before the first light starts to affect viewing.

In other parts of the country, they'll see the reddish tint that's known as the "blood moon" due to a lunar eclipse that's taking place. The best place for viewing that would be in the Pacific Northwest. 

The reddish-orange color is the result of all the sunrises and sunsets in Earth's atmosphere projected onto the surface of the eclipsed moon. 

There will be a near lunar eclipse on November 19 of this year. The next total lunar eclipse will be May 2022. The last one was January 2019.

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