Total Lunar Eclipse!

Set your alarm to catch a total lunar eclipse this week! On Wednesday morning, October 8, the Moon will slip into Earth's shadow right before moonset and sunrise. 

I first wrote about lunar eclipses in a blog post back in April. Read on for an updated version!  

Last April's lunar eclipse photographed by Damian Peach. Image credit: APOD and Damian Peach.

Why do lunar eclipses happen? 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.

Click for larger image. At 5:45 AM on Wednesday, October 8, the eclipsed Moon will be low in the West. Image Credit: Stellarium.

Wednesday's eclipse starts at 4:18 AM. The Moon will be fairly low in the west (see above), so find a place to observe without many buildings or trees in the way. 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 entirely eclipsed at 5:27 AM , you will see the full Moon, but with an orange-red color. The total eclipse ends at 6:22 AM, and the Moon sets at 7:07 AM, while it is still leaving the Earth's shadow.

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 that all the sunrises and sunsets happening around Earth at that moment are being cast onto the Moon. The red color is why some people call eclipses a “Blood Moon”. 
 
Since you will be up early to see the eclipse anyway, you might as well take note some of the brighter constellations visible! You can find bright winter constellations such as Orion the Hunter, Canis Major, and the Gemini Twins easily. Jupiter will also be visible, shining brighter than any star; probably brighter than the eclipsed Moon! See image below. 

Orion the Hunter stands straight up in the south at 5:45 AM. Find the bright star Sirius in Canis Major by following his belt down and to the east. Image Credit: Stellarium.

Learn all about the lunar eclipse and an upcoming partial solar eclipse visible from Peoria (October 23) in our live show Eclipse at the Peoria Riverfront Museum's planetarium. Let us know if you wake up to see the lunar eclipse, and share pictures with us if you capture any good ones!