greybeard
Well-known member
Sky watchers are getting ready for an evening of special viewing when a total lunar eclipse arrives early on the morning of Tuesday, April 15.
What's more, this begins a rare sequence of four total lunar eclipses expected over the next two years.
In Houston, you can look to the sky around 1 a.m. Central to see the start of the eclipse. By 2 a.m. there should be a full lunar eclipse that lasts just over an hour. Die-hard observers may want to stay out all night, but the best part of the show will be from about 2 a.m. till 4 a.m. Eastern time, or during the hours around midnight for west coast residents.
Some Christians see this series of so-called blood moons as linked to a biblical prophecy of the End Times.
A lunar eclipse occurs when the sun, Earth and moon line up so the Earth's shadow falls on the moon, darkening it.
"Eclipses are one of the few astronomical events that can easily be enjoyed with the naked eye," though a pair of binoculars brings it into even greater focus, said astronomy writer Gary Kronk.
As it begins, "the Earth's shadow will make a slow crawl across the moon's face, appearing as if there is an increasingly large 'bite' taken out of the moon," said Deborah Byrd with EarthSky.org, an online science magazine.
At first, the full moon will just appear to be a little darker than normal, "but eventually people will notice a much darker arc moving across the moon, with a distinct rusty reddish-brown color," said astronomer Gerald McKeegan at the Chabot Space and Science Center in Oakland, Calif.
The bloody red color the moon takes on during an eclipse is caused by refraction of sunlight by the Earth's atmosphere.
"It is the same effect that you see when the sun turns reddish-orange at sunset, only in this case the refracted sunlight projects all the way to the moon," McKeegan said.
This eclipse also features an extra astronomical quirk. Mars will appear "as a fiery red 'star' next to the moon. Together red Mars and the red shadow on the moon's face should be a spectacular sight and an incredible photo opportunity," said Byrd.
What's more, this begins a rare sequence of four total lunar eclipses expected over the next two years.
In Houston, you can look to the sky around 1 a.m. Central to see the start of the eclipse. By 2 a.m. there should be a full lunar eclipse that lasts just over an hour. Die-hard observers may want to stay out all night, but the best part of the show will be from about 2 a.m. till 4 a.m. Eastern time, or during the hours around midnight for west coast residents.
Some Christians see this series of so-called blood moons as linked to a biblical prophecy of the End Times.
A lunar eclipse occurs when the sun, Earth and moon line up so the Earth's shadow falls on the moon, darkening it.
"Eclipses are one of the few astronomical events that can easily be enjoyed with the naked eye," though a pair of binoculars brings it into even greater focus, said astronomy writer Gary Kronk.
As it begins, "the Earth's shadow will make a slow crawl across the moon's face, appearing as if there is an increasingly large 'bite' taken out of the moon," said Deborah Byrd with EarthSky.org, an online science magazine.
At first, the full moon will just appear to be a little darker than normal, "but eventually people will notice a much darker arc moving across the moon, with a distinct rusty reddish-brown color," said astronomer Gerald McKeegan at the Chabot Space and Science Center in Oakland, Calif.
The bloody red color the moon takes on during an eclipse is caused by refraction of sunlight by the Earth's atmosphere.
"It is the same effect that you see when the sun turns reddish-orange at sunset, only in this case the refracted sunlight projects all the way to the moon," McKeegan said.
This eclipse also features an extra astronomical quirk. Mars will appear "as a fiery red 'star' next to the moon. Together red Mars and the red shadow on the moon's face should be a spectacular sight and an incredible photo opportunity," said Byrd.
