Get Ready for the Blood Moon Lunar Eclipse

The eastern portion of the U.S. is in for a treat Sunday, May 15th, with our first total lunar eclipse of the year. And this one has two exceptional distinctions: it’s a Blood Moon and a Super Moon…it’s the Super Flower Blood Moon Eclipse. How’s that for a mouthful! And this time, you don’t even have to get up in the dead of night for it.

Here’s a little scientific reminder on the Moon, Sun, Earth and eclipses. You know that the Moon orbits the Earth, and the Earth orbits the Sun. The lit-up Moon is actually reflected light from the Sun; the Moon itself has no light source. During an eclipse, the Earth lines up with the Sun on one side and the Moon on the other, effectively blocking off that direct light from the Sun. And that creates the eclipse and that darkening of the Moon. But what creates a Blood Moon eclipse? Here you want to remember that very basic old science lesson on light; it travels in waves and different colors of light have different physical properties. Well, when the Moon travels through Earth’s shadow, it is never totally in the dark. The longest wavelengths of light from the Sun bend around Earth, passing through Earth’s atmosphere. Those longest wavelengths are red and that is what reaches the Moon and gives it the blood red color. Red light travels more directly through the atmosphere. This whole scattering of light is called Rayleigh scattering and it also explains why our sky is blue (that’s another lesson). One thing to note is that the color of the Moon will depend on the amount of dust, cloud cover and volcanic ash in the air. It may appear coppery red. It may appear orange or even gold. Just know when you are looking at the eclipsed Moon, it’s color is all because of this scattering of long wavelengths of light off of the molecules in the air.

One other nice thing about the Flower Blood Moon Eclipse is the duration. From start to finish it’s over four hours. The penumbra, when the Sun is only partially blocked by Earth, starts at 10:15 PM and doesn’t affect the appearance of the Moon very much. The umbra is when the Sun is completely blocked and that starts at 10:27 PM. Remember, we’re moving so it’s not like the eclipse is a switch that goes on and off. We move into, and out of, the penumbral and umbral stages.

The moon will be fully eclipsed for about an hour and a half – yep, that long! So, if you want to just pop out and see the full eclipse, you don’t have to set a stopwatch. Come out anytime between 11:29 PM and 12:53 AM. The full event is even longer with the partial eclipse starting at 10:15 PM and ending 2:10 AM.

If you’re an “early to bed, early to rise” kind of person, don’t worry. Our next total lunar eclipse is November 8th with the full eclipse beginning at 5:16 AM so you’ll get your chances then. But for now, it’s time for night owls to rejoice with a great legit reason to stay awake all night.