Total Lunar Eclipse Tonight!

Image Credit: NASA

You can see a lunar eclipse tonight! Although they happen about once every 6 months, it’s been over 2 years since the last one was visible from Peoria.

So what’s happening and what should you expect? Well, as the Sun shines on Earth, the planet casts a shadow into space. And as the Moon makes its way around Earth every month, it usually passes a little above or below the shadow. But every once in a while, it passes right through Earth’s shadow, and we get a lunar eclipse.

Tonight’s eclipse will start around 1:00 in the morning. Over the course of an hour, you’ll see Earth’s shadow gradually creep across the face of the Moon, giving it an odd appearance – sort of like a phase of the Moon, but not quite. When the Moon is totally eclipsed, from around 2:00-3:30 a.m., you will see the full Moon, but with an orange-red color. The Moon will be darkest at about 2:45 a.m.

Image Credit: National Air and Space Museum
Image is not to scale.

Why can you still see the Moon when it is completely in Earth’s shadow? A little bit of sunlight passes though the atmosphere, bending around Earth and into Earth’s shadow. As the Moon passes through Earth’s shadow, that red light reflects off the Moon’s surface. A nice way to think of it is the sunrises and sunsets happening all over Earth are being cast up onto the Moon. The red color is why some people are calling tonight’s eclipse a “Blood Moon”. At about 3:30, the Moon will start moving out of Earth’s shadow, until the eclipse ends at about 4:30 a.m. 

A lunar eclipse is a really pretty (and slightly eerie) sight to see. Mars will be very close to the Moon tonight, looking like a bright orange-red star. It is especially bright right now due to opposition, as explained in our last blog post. You can also observe the springtime constellations near the Moon, including Virgo the Maiden, Bootes the Herdsman, and Leo the Lion.

Image Credit: Stellarium

It might be cloudy tonight, so if you cannot see the Moon and still want to watch the eclipse, check out the Griffith Observatory's live streaming of the event.  

If you miss this eclipse, you will have three more chances in the next year and a half to catch one! This eclipse is the first in a tetrad, or series of four total lunar eclipses visible from North America. From Peoria, you will be able to see a lunar eclipse in October 2014, April 2015, and September 2015.

As always, if you are curious about what is happening in the night sky, check out our Stars Over Peoria show, showing every day we are open at 2:30 in the Dome at the Peoria Riverfront Museum.  Find the full show schedule and descriptions here.