Every so often, the Full Moon will pass through the shadow of the Earth. During most Full Moons, the Moon passes a little above or a little below Earth's shadow in space, and there's no eclipse. But during the upcoming 10/8 lunar eclipse, the Moon will be deep in the darkest part of our shadow for a relatively long one hour.
You'll want to prepare for the eclipse. Don't worry if you don't have a telescope. You can view the eclipse with your eyes. Binoculars can make the view much better. And, of course, any size telescope gives you the best view. Don't worry about safety -- viewing this eclipse of the Moon is totally safe for your eyes.
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Courtesy Victor Rogus, Jadwin, MO, taken 4/15/2014
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Because of the timing, you'll need to have a good view to the southwest and west. The best spot will have a view all the way to the horizon in the west-southwest -- you'll get the full view. But just about any place is good for viewing at least part of the eclipse.
Speaking of timing, you'll want to be outside and ready to view for the best part of the eclipse -- from 4:15 AM through moonset, after 7 AM. Lunar eclipses are slow-moving events, so a chair or a blanket on the ground might make you more comfortable. There are tips below to help you productively pass the time as the eclipse slowly progresses.
After you wake up, get your gear and settle in at your viewing spot, you should have no trouble seeing the bright Full Moon in the southwest. The brightness of the Moon will make it hard to see most stars or the Milky Way. But starting about quarter after 4 AM you should see the Moon looking a little strange -- like someone took a small bite out of the "top".
From our view here on Earth, the "bite" on the Moon will continue to grow and by 5:25 AM the whole Moon will be completely inside Earth's shadow. That's the start of the "total lunar eclipse" and for about the next hour, no direct sunlight will reach the Moon. What we see when that happens isn't completely predictable.
Once the Moon is fully eclipsed, the lighting of the Moon depends on our weather around the Earth. If the Earth had no air, the Moon would be totally black -- nearly invisible -- during a lunar eclipse. But our blanket of air bends light, and different colors bend differently. Our blue sky is made of bent sunlight. And our orange or red sunsets are bent sunlight, too. When the Moon is eclipsed, the only sunlight reaching the Moon is bent through our atmosphere. So the eclipsed Moon can be a drab coppery gray or shocking blood color or many other variations, just like the variations in our sunsets. We just don't know before it happens (just like our sunsets). If you're watching, you know as soon as anyone on Earth. You'll be on the scene, watching science news as it happens. And stay alert -- the color and brightness can change over the course of the eclipse. The totality of the eclipse will continue for 58 minutes.
The pre-dawn Sun will start to brighten the sky much earlier than the 7:07 AM sunrise. Between the start of totality and the start of twilight, you might catch a few other interesting things in the dark sky during totality:
First, you should have no trouble seeing the bright planet Jupiter in the east. It will be brighter than any of the stars in the sky. You can see four of its moons through a telescope or binoculars.
Second, you might also see the planet Uranus. Even though it's 1.8 billion miles away and dimmer than most stars, it will be easy to find. It's in a part of the sky with few stars and just to the upper left of the Moon. You might see it during totality with just your eyes, but it'll be much easier with binoculars. If you view it with a telescope, it will look like a very, very blue-green dot -- not bright like a star.
Third, keep your eyes browsing the sky while the Moon slowly darkens. There will be two moderate meteor showers in progress — the Orionids and Taurids. They're normally tame — 5-15 meteors visible per hour. But sometimes they surprise the viewers with more. The light of the Full Moon would normally hide most of the meteors, but during the darker skies of totality you should catch a few. For meteor viewing, there's nothing better than sharp eyes, so don't worry about the binoculars or a telescope.
Finally, you might see some satellites drifting overhead. The combination of a dark sky and sunlight from the still hidden Sun makes the drifting satellites stand out in the sky.
The twilight will continue to grow and the Moon will dip toward the horizon. About 6:25 AM, you might notice that the Moon has a bright spot toward the top. That's a sign that the Moon is starting to pass out of Earth's shadow and direct (not bent) sunlight is returning to the Full Moon.
As more of the Moon is brightens, you might be tempted to quit and get something to eat. But you might miss another rarity. If you can follow the Moon to the horizon AND you can see the horizon to the east, then the eclipsed Moon and the rising Sun will both be visible (in opposite directions) for a few minutes around 7:10 AM. That arrangement is known as a "selenelion". The term is rare so you might be able to use that term to impress or stump an astronomer. The event happens somewhere on Earth during every total lunar eclipse, but only a few people are in the right place with the perfect horizon views of the Sun (due east) and Moon (due west) at the same time. Be careful so you don't accidentally aim your telescope or binoculars at the rising Sun. Otherwise you might seriously damage your eyes.
The show is over when the partially eclipsed and squished-looking Moon finally dips below the horizon around 7:15 AM. Now it's time for some breakfast. Or maybe you're already late for work.
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| Moon moving into Earth's shado |
EPILOGUE [12-2-2014]: The clouds were cruel to people near Salem who hoped to enjoy the eclipse. Just after the Moon was darkening, clouds rolled in and stayed until the Moon was completely out of the Earth's shadow.
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