Partial Lunar Eclipse Over Tigertail Lagoon – the Longest in over 580 years

Marco Islanders were rewarded with a celestial event on November 19th as it was the last lunar event of the year as the moon took on a reddish hue. But this one is for the history books, as it was the longest in 580 years according to NASA.

This was a must-see event with a partial lunar eclipse – when the Earth moves between the sun and the moon but they are not perfectly aligned.  Only part of the moon’s surface was covered by the Earth’s shadow.

In this case, the partial eclipse phase lasted 3 hours, 28 minutes and 24 seconds, and the full eclipse for 6 hours and 1 minute, making this the longest partial eclipse in 580 years In Florida the best time for viewing was between 3:30 – 4:30AM Friday morning. 

Professional Photographer Frank Steiger woke up at 2:30 am and drove to the Fakahatchee Strand and Preserve but it was cloudy, so he drove back to Marco Island and took his best photos with the moon over Tigertail Beach.