Total lunar eclipse will have eyes on the sky
For anyone who has trouble sleeping, works the night shift or wakes in the wee hours of the morning, an astronomical wonder will be visible this week for the first time since 2019.
Southern Californians awake between 4:11 and 4:26 a.m. Wednesday can look to the skies to see the first total lunar eclipse since Jan. 21, 2019. A total lunar eclipse occurs when the moon passes into the Earth’s shadow, completely obscuring the orbiting body from view. Onlookers will not need special glasses or other precautions to look at the event, unlike solar eclipses.
People who want a better view of the eclipse can watch a livestream set up by the Griffith Observatory. The stream begins at 1:45 a.m. and will show the eclipse in its different stages. The umbral
eclipse, a partial eclipse of the moon, will begin at 2:45 a.m. The maximum eclipse takes place at 4:19 a.m. The umbral eclipse ends at 5:52 a.m. and the sun will rise in the next few minutes. The Griffith Observatory will end the livestream at 6 a.m.
Despite it’s implication, the total lunar eclipse won’t make the moon disappear. Instead, the celestial body will take on a faint copper or red color.
“You might think ‘Well you’re in the shadow, where are you getting any light at all?” said David Reitzel, an astronomical lecturer at the Griffith Observatory. “Well
Earth has an atmosphere, and our atmosphere bends sunlight.”
Reitzel also said that the color isn’t always red but
can change depending on what happens on Earth. For example, a dust storm in the Sahara Desert could kick up more dirt into the atmosphere
and make the light on the moon appear more red, according to Reitzel.
The lunar eclipse will be visible on most of the West Coast of the U.S. Reitzel said California, Hawaii and Alaska are prime locations to watch the event. However, the Griffith Observatory will also upload a timelapse video of the eclipse on YouTube for those people who can’t watch it live. In a normal year, observatories around the region might host in-person viewing events, but the pandemic has affected potential viewing parties all over the state because of concerns over large gatherings.
Despite this, local astronomy groups are coming up with recommendations on where people can watch the event. Chris
Clarke, secretary and educational outreach coordinator for the San Bernardino Valley Amateur Astronomers, said that fog can disrupt people’s views, so going out to the desert east of San Bernardino might mitigate this problem and give people the best view.
Some people have taken to calling the upcoming lunar event, eerily, a “super blood moon”: “super” because the moon will appear slightly larger than usual because of its orbit around the Earth and “blood” because it describes the color the moon will take on.
While Reitzel thinks the terms are a little misleading — the “supernatural” overtones aren’t really appropriate — he said that if they get people excited, then he’s all for calling it that.
“It’s just like looking at a sunset,” Reitzel said. “In fact, if you were on the moon, it’s kind of like you’re looking at all the sunsets and sunrises happening at once.”
Reitzel went on to explain that cameras from the moon have tried to capture the phenomenon before, but the cameras weren’t always the best quality, so the images didn’t appear very sharp. Reitzel also encouraged people to wake up early or stay up late to watch the event.
After Wednesday, the next total lunar eclipse visible in Southern California won’t occur until May 1516, 2022. So set your alarm clocks or brew up some late night/very early morning coffee if you don’t want to miss this astronomical light show.