The orange-colored star Antares, for instance, which will be visible to the bottom left of the moon. Keen-eyed observers may notice that, during totality, the sky surrounding the moon will appear much darker, revealing nearby bright stars. Most of western North America can see at least part of the eclipse as well, with only parts of Alaska and northern Canada missing it entirely.Īt least part of totality will also be visible from most of Africa and Western Europe, while some parts of West Asia will be able to see partial phases of the eclipse. Lucky sky-watchers across the eastern half of North America and in all of Central and South America will be able to see the entire spectacle from beginning to end. Clouds of ash thrown into the stratosphere by a recent volcanic eruption in the Kingdom of Tonga in the southern Pacific Ocean, for example, may turn the moon's face an even deeper shade of red than a typical lunar eclipse. The moon will dim to a dull charcoal color before it turns blood red, and the color can vary significantly from one eclipse to the next depending on the particles in our planet’s atmosphere. A pair of binoculars allows you to see an impressive amount of detail on the moon, but you can watch a lunar eclipse without any gear from anywhere you could see the full moon. Unlike a solar eclipse, which requires special equipment to observe safely, you can watch a lunar eclipse with unaided eyes. It’s the same reason we see the normally yellow sun turn red during sunsets. The ruddy coloration of the fully eclipsed lunar disk occurs because sunlight hitting the moon gets filtered through Earth’s atmosphere, scattering the blue light and letting the red pass through. Lunar eclipses happen only during a full moon, and about 29 percent are total lunar eclipses, when the entire moon passes through the dark central cone of Earth’s shadow, known as the umbra. Learn what causes a lunar eclipse and how it gains its crimson coloring. Unlike a solar eclipse, which may require travel to see, total lunar eclipses can often be observed from the entire nighttime-half of the Earth. Today, this celestial phenomenon generates excitement and wonder. Nicknamed "blood moon," some ancient cultures regarded a total lunar eclipse as an ominous event. But roughly three times a year, the moon passes through at least part of Earth’s shadow. This doesn't happen every time the moon makes its monthly trek around our planet because the moon's orbit is tilted. Lunar eclipses occur when the sun, Earth, and moon line up properly for the moon to pass into Earth’s shadow. In some parts of the Pacific Northwest, the already-eclipsed moon will rise just before the sun sets, brightening as it climbs into the night sky. The entire phase of totality will be visible in all of South America and across most of North America, as well as in parts of Africa and Europe. The total phase of the eclipse, when the moon is at its deepest red, will begin on May 15 at 11:29 p.m. The important thing, though, is that Earth’s shadow will bathe the moon in a deep red-one of the most eye-catching sights of the night sky-for nearly an hour and a half.
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