My Premonition: The last day of the month the Moon will turn red with blood!…. or rather will appear red with light passing through our atmosphere. I know wayyyy less cool but still a sight to see! The reason the Moon looks red to us is similar to why during the day the sky is blue. Our atmosphere scatters blue light and red passes through. Since during the Eclipse the Earth blocks out the Sun, the only light hitting the Moon is what has passed through the Earth’s atmosphere, or red light.
Eclipse lunar by real_orion (my side note: to the naked eye the eclipse will look a little more burnt orange and wayyy less bright)
On January 31st, there is a total lunar eclipse. This is when the Earth passes between the Moon and the Sun and casts a shadow on the Moon. This eclipse is visible in Asia and Australia in its entirety, North America, Europe and some parts of Africa and South America will get to see parts of it. To better explain this, here is the map of what portions of the Earth will be facing the Moon during this event. Just to note the penumbra is the outer portion of the shadow (or the hazy gray edges) while the umbra is the inner sharp dark portion of the shadow (much easier to see). If you want some animations to explain the eclipse, visit Time and Dates website here.
Eclipse Map from Sky and Telescope
Here is the event breakdown all times on January 31st:
Start of Penrumbra (hazy outer edges land on Moon): 5:51 am EST (10:51 UTC)
Start of Partial Eclipse (the umbra or dark shadow is seen): 6:48 am EST (11:48 UTC)
Start of Total Eclipse (entire Moon is dark and red): 7:51 am EST (12:51 UTC)
End of Total Eclipse: 9:07 am EST (14:07 UTC)
End of Partial Eclipse: 10:51 am EST (15:51 UTC)
End of Penumbra: 11:08 EST (16:08 UTC)
If the Moon isn’t up or there is bad weather in your area during the eclipse you can catch it on Slooh (you just need to sign up for an account which is totally free). Coverage begins at 5:45 am EST (10:45 UTC) here.
Happy Observing!
Also shout out to Cardi B for the title inspiration today.
