Elusive Eclipse

There will be a lunar eclipse this Saturday morning, April 4, visible just before the sun rises. However, it will be a bit tricky to see in Central Illinois. 

The Moon will start to move into the Earth's shadow at about 5:15 AM CDT. Image Credit: Me and Stellarium

The eclipse starts at about 5:15 AM. At that time, the Moon will be low in the west (see image above). As time passes and the Moon moves into the Earth's shadow, the Moon will also move lower and lower towards the horizon. The Moon will be totally eclipsed at 7 AM. However, the Moon will set at about 6:30 AM. Around moonset, the Moon will be about halfway eclipsed. Since the Sun will be rising and the sky will be brightening, it will be interesting to see how much of the eclipse we can observe. See image below for moonset.

The Moon will not have enough time to be fully eclipsed before it sets and the Sun rises. Image Credit: Me and Stellarium.

If you don't have a good view of the western horizon, if it is cloudy, and if the light of the sunrise brightens the sky too much, we might not be able to see much of an eclipse. However, it affords an interesting challenge!

 
So what is the deal with lunar eclipses anyway? 
Here is an excerpt from a previous post with a detailed explanation.

As the Sun shines on Earth, the planet casts a shadow into space. And as the Moon makes its way around Earth every moonth, 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.

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, you will see the full Moon, but with an orange-red color.

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 onto the Moon.

There will be another eclipse visible from this part of the world on September 28, 2015, that will be much easier to see. It starts at about 8 PM, and is totally eclipsed by 9:47 PM. The eclipse ends at about 11:30 PM, so you won't even have to get up in the middle of the night to see it! 

Good luck catching this elusive eclipse on Saturday morning! If you capture any good photos, share them on our facebook page. As always, you can learn more about what's up in the current night sky by visiting the Dome Planetarium at the Peoria Riverfront Museum. 

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