It has been more than three years since all of North America was treated to a total lunar eclipse. That celestial drought will end Sunday night. A total lunar eclipse takes place when the earth is between the moon and the sun and the moon slips into the earths shadow.
The moon will pass deep in to the shadow of the earth and the moon will turn a deep red, some people have began to call this a blood moon. The moon will turn red because the earths atmosphere captures and scatters the blue color of the spectrum, making our clear skies blue, but the atmosphere passes the color red, creating our colorful sunsets, and that passed red color falls on to the earths shadow. It is that red color we will see on the moon.
Locally the eclipse will begin at 9:34 p.m. Sunday.
At that time the moon will begin to slip in to the earths shadow. It will take over an hour for the moon to become fully covered by the earths shadow. This is known as the partial phase.
By 10:41, the moon will be completely covered by the earths shadow. This is the start of the total phase of the eclipse.
The moon will be covered by the earths shadow until 11:44 p.m. Slowly the moon will emerge from the earths shadow until the moon returns to its former glory as the brightest object in the night sky at 12:51 a.m. Monday.
Unlike a solar eclipse that requires special eclipse glasses and protection for your eyes, it is perfectly safe to look at the lunar eclipse. The eclipse will also give us a chance to test our cameras and cell phones to see if we can capture the celestial event.
The forecast is for a cold evening Sunday but often that brings clear skies. If it is clear make sure you enjoy this eclipse because the next total lunar eclipse we will be able to see will be in May of 2021.
(Editors note: Mike Myer, Humboldt, is an amateur astronomer and frequently shares news and notes about upcoming celestial events.)
