A total eclipse of the moon will be occurring in our area Sunday and Monday.
First of all, it is perfectly safe to look at this lunar eclipse with the unaided eye. If you have binoculars or a telescope, you’ll definitely want to use them for this event. Children should not go outside unaccompanied. As with any nighttime observations, check the area for obstructions, such as gardening tools, during the day. Also look for natural nuisances, such as anthills.
The partial eclipse begins Sunday about 10:33 or 10:34 p.m. Pro tip: Go out at around 11 p.m. to see the partial eclipse in full swing. Look at the shape of the Earth’s shadow on the moon — it’s circular. The Earth’s shadow is much larger than the moon, and Aristarchus of Samos was able to approximate the distance to the moon and the sun using eclipses like this. He was also using Eratosthenes’ calculation for the circumference of the nearly spherical Earth to derive his distances. You will also use this observation to figure out where the moon is in the sky.
This will come in handy because the total eclipse begins at 11:41 p.m. At this point, the full moon will be much dimmer than normal, appearing a burnt orange or auburn color in the sky. The colors you see will be all of the Earth’s sunrises and sunsets refracted onto the moon by our atmosphere. This is why the moon doesn’t completely disappear behind Earth’s shadow. No two lunar eclipses are exactly alike, as atmospheric dust differs from eclipse to eclipse.
Maximum eclipse is early Monday at 12:12 a.m. This is when the moon may approach a blood red color. If you have a night sky app on your smart phone, such as Sky Map, the moon will be between the constellations Gemini and Taurus.
The total eclipse ends Monday at 12:43 a.m., and we are in prime position to see the entire event, concluding when the partial ends Monday at 1:50 a.m.
If it’s cloudy here, there are several live streams that will allow you to watch the eclipse progressing for free. Two of these are SLOOH’s youtube channel, and https://www.timeanddate.com/live/. When observing the eclipse live or virtually, you are watching the moon’s orbit around Earth. This is one of those motions you usually don’t see as its happening.
If you sleep through this one, there won’t be another total lunar eclipse visible in our area until May 15 and May 16, 2022.
