During such an eclipse, the Earth, moon and sun align such that the Earth blocks the sunlight from reaching the surface of the moon, casting the lunar surface in shadow.
The next three total lunar eclipses will occur on October 8, 2014, April 4, 2015, and September 28, 2015.Last night, much of the Western Hemisphere enjoyed one of the most spectacular natural phenomena to occur in the sky, a total lunar eclipse. Also, if you miss tonight’s eclipse, just mark your calendars! Tonight is the first in a sequence of four consecutive total lunar eclipses (called a tetrad) which will each be visible from all or part of the United States. The human eye is better at seeing a range of bright and dark areas than a camera, so while sunlight is illuminating part of the Moon, you will still be able to see the darkened part. You’ll see even more with your eyes than shown in the image sequence above. You can watch the eclipse with a telescope or binoculars, or just with your eyes! Unlike for a solar eclipse, no safety equipment is needed. That part of the eclipse will last until 5:33 am EDT (2:33 am PDT), when the Moon will look fully illuminated again, though it will still be in the Earth’s fuzzy, subtle penumbra until 6:37 am EDT (3:37 am PDT). Volcanic activity, for example, can lend the Moon an especially vivid hue.Īt 4:24 am EDT (1:24 am PDT), a bright sliver will appear again as the Moon starts to leave the Earth’s umbra. The color depends on what’s happening in the Earth’s atmosphere.
BLOOD MOON LUNAR ECLIPSE FULL
But it won’t vanish! The light of all the sunrises and all the sunsets around the world will be filtered through Earth’s atmosphere and fall onto the Moon, giving the full Moon an eerie, blood-red tint. The eclipse is noticeable once the Moon enters the umbra.Īt 3:06 am EDT (12:06 am PDT), the Moon will pass completely into Earth’s shadow. Earth creates two shadows: the outer, pale shadow called the penumbra, and the dark, inner shadow called the umbra. During an eclipse the Earth blocks sunlight from reaching the Moon. When the Sun, Earth, and Moon, are precisely aligned, a lunar eclipse will occur. This shows the geometry of a lunar eclipse. Earth’s shadow on the Moon has a fuzzy edge (as seen in the image above) because of Earth’s atmosphere. As the hour goes on, the bite gets bigger and bigger.
As the Moon starts to enter the full shadow of the Earth, called the umbra, skywatchers will see a bite taken out of the Moon. The dramatic part starts at 1:58 am EDT (or 10:58 pm PDT on April 14 for the Pacific Coast). During this part of the eclipse, the Moon will still look like an ordinary full Moon, because only a slight and subtle shadow is cast on the Moon.
That’s when the Moon enters the partial shadow of the Earth, called the penumbra. Tonight’s eclipse begins at 12:53 am EDT, very early in the morning of April 15 for the East Coast. You can also participate in a live web chat during the eclipse with NASA astronomers. Some of their locations will be clouded out, so we recommend that you search for “lunar eclipse live stream” and browse the results. If you live elsewhere in the world, or if it’s cloudy in your location – as it probably will be tonight at our location in Washington, DC – you can still see the eclipse online. Total lunar eclipse, photographed at the Public Observatory at the National Air and Space Museum on December 21, 2010.
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