Lunar Eclipses Are Certainly Spectacular. Just Look for Yourself
Opinion Advocates for ideas and draws conclusions based on the author/producer’s interpretation of facts and data.
By Scott Levine
Earlier this year a famous astronomy communicator, who sometimes has a reputation for being a wet blanket, shook the conversation up by saying he felt lunar eclipses were “un-spectacular” and not something most people would notice.
While this doesn’t directly mean he’s suggesting people not look, it does seem like a strange thing for someone like him to say.
A lunar eclipse happens when the moon, always at its full phase, glides through Earth’s shadow and causes the moon to take on a reddish glow. They’re sort of the opposite of their cousin-in-shadows, the solar eclipse. In those, it’s us here on Earth who fall into the moon’s shadow.
It’s certainly hard to make a case they’re as amazing as total solar eclipses, but there is an undeniable, understated spectacle that comes from watching a lunar eclipse.
First, most of the time, we see the full moonrise just as normal. Then, partially through its trip across the sky, it gradually starts to dim. First, a slow, dusty darkening happens as the moon moves into the outer edges of Earth’s shadow, called the penumbra. As time goes on, that dimming becomes an ominous reddening, as the darker umbra falls across part or all of the moon’s face.
There’s always some unpredictability in what that umbral phase looks like. Since what we’re seeing on the moon in these moments is sunlight filtered through Earth’s atmosphere, disturbances in our atmosphere from wildfires, pollution or even unusually clean air have an effect, and there’s no reliable way to know what we’ll see until we see it.
Sometimes the red is thin like a sheer curtain between us and the moon. Other times the color is enough to give it the “blood moon” nickname some people like to use. How much of the moon is covered by the shadow and where the moon is in the sky at the time of the eclipse affect things, too.
And there’s a bonus: Every lunar eclipse connects us back to the ancients. We can all see Earth’s shadow is curved as it overtakes the moon. The ancient Greeks realized that if Earth were flat, sooner or later that curved edge would rotate away, and the shape of the shadow would change. That never happens, though. It’s curved throughout the eclipse, a sure sign that Earth is a sphere. If you have any friends who have started to believe Earth isn’t round, lunar eclipses help us there as well.
But don’t take my word for it. Early on the morning of Tuesday, Nov. 8, we’ll be treated to a total lunar eclipse as the moon sets. Earth’s shadow starts to cover the moon in the dark part of the early morning hours. Totality begins at 5:15 a.m. By about 6:40, the moon sets in our area, effectively ending the eclipse for us.
Setting full moons are a real treat, eclipse or not. What could the moon setting while eclipsed look like? It’s not something I’ve ever seen, and I can’t wait to get a look.
It’s hard for me to agree that watching this story unfold isn’t spectacular. I hope you’ll look up and decide for yourself. Clear skies!
Scott Levine (astroscott@yahoo.com) is an astronomy writer and speaker from Croton-on-Hudson. He is also a member of Westchester Amateur Astronomers, a group dedicated to astronomy outreach in our area. For information about the club including membership, newsletters, upcoming meetings and lectures at Pace University and star parties at Ward Pound Ridge Reservation, visit www.westchesterastronomers.org.
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