See the photo of the last night's Lunar Eclipse

This month, for the first time in over three decades, you can witness a rare supermoon in combination with a lunar eclipse, providing the weather’s good and skies are clear wherever you happen to be on the ground, of course. That means that to assure an unobscured view, you’ll need to find a seat above any clouds.

In China, this month’s rare lunar event also converges with a mid-autumn moon festival, prompting the budget air carrier Spring Airlines to offer scenic “moon-viewing” flights from September 26 – 28.

“We hope the moon-viewing flights will take care of the emotional needs of our customers who are still on the road during the festival,” Yi Mao, the airline’s head of marketing, told CNN.

Getting the best view of the supermoon, which appears up to fourteen percent larger and 30 percent brighter than when at its furthest point in orbit, will depend on getting a seat on the ideal side of the plane as well  the left side is best when flying west and vice versa, according to the airline.


But the main event is the eclipse, when the supermoon slips behind the shadow of the Earth, giving it a reddish “blood moon” tint, and we’re likely to have a much better view of that event in North America as it will be near mid-day in China.

So, to ensure you get a front row seat to this historic lunar event, you’ll actually want to make sure it’s a window seat, preferably aboard an evening flight that will find you in the air heading either north or south (Miami to New York would be perfect, for example) around 10 pm Eastern Daylight time, as NASA says the total eclipse will start at 10:11 pm. The moon rises in the east, so if you’re traveling south to north, you’ll want to be on the right side of the plane or vice versa.

Of course, it could be easier just to hope for clear skies wherever you are or watch NASA’s live stream if you get rained out.

Oh, and in case you’ve heard that this lunar event might be significant for another reason, NASA would also like you to know that it literally does NOT mean the end of the world.