Tonight there will be a total lunar eclipse visible for most of humanity (just not for we Western Hemispherians; here’s a map of viewing locations). The moon has been very bright the past few days, and tonight it will be full. As the Earth’s shadow blocks the sun, the moon will turn red.
March’s full moon, known as the Worm Moon, will pass into Earth’s shadow on the night of March 13, or early on March 14, depending on the time zone, according to NASA. This eclipse will be visible from Earth’s Western Hemisphere.
While the peak of the eclipse will happen in the middle of the night (my time, at least), we should be able to see the event begin as the red(dish) moon rises around 7pm.
Why red? The color can vary based on the Moon’s path and the Earth’s atmosphere. The shade is measured on the Danjon Scale, which is a thing I hadn’t heard of but absolutely needed to know!
Earth’s atmosphere contains varying amounts of water (clouds, mist, precipitation) and solid particles (dust, organic debris, volcanic ash). This material filters and attenuates the sunlight before it’s refracted into the umbra. For instance, large or frequent volcanic eruptions dumping huge quantities of ash into the atmosphere are often followed by very dark, red eclipses for several years. Extensive cloud cover along Earth’s limb also tends to darken the eclipse by blocking sunlight.
The best times to view the event will depend on your location, but the lunar eclipse will peak at 10:44 p.m. ET, according to NASA. All of North and South America will have a chance to see the partial lunar eclipse and harvest supermoon depending on the weather. Europe and Africa will also have an opportunity to see the eclipse.
As the full Moon closest to the autumnal equinox, this is the Harvest Moon. The first known written use of this name in the English language (per the Oxford English Dictionary) was in 1706. During the fall harvest season farmers sometimes need to work late into the night by moonlight. On average moonrise is about 50 minutes later each night. Around the Harvest Moon this time is shorter, about 25 minutes for the latitude of Washington, DC, and only 10 to 20 minutes farther north in Canada and Europe.
Here is some general info on eclipses and a fun video from NASA.
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And as for that more-or-less moon related bonus item? It’s a tasty one.
Mr Man and I went for a lovely if hot hike down by the river, and decided that the best way to cap it off would be with ice cream. We found ourselves at Chris’s Ice Cream Ottawa.
This fun little shop had a number of interesting and creative flavors, including blood orange, chili chocolate, strawberry crunch, and… hang on, what’s this?
I did not think I would like it. I did not think the flavors would work. In fact, they did more than work, as all three flavors combined into a new, better flavor.
I don’t quite know how to describe this “improbable” combination except as a structural shift. Imagine three individual flavors, normally experienced as if they were sequential, or side by side. When eaten together, however, the flavors stack together to create a singular new experience.
Do you love Tuesdays? Want to get a head start on tomorrow? (Or hate Tuesdays and want something to make tomorrow better? Yeah, that’s more me, I’m afraid.) Or perhaps you’re just looking for an excuse to stay up late, you know, For Science? You are in luck!
The initial phase of the eclipse begins at 3:02 a.m. ET, according to NASA. The partial eclipse then begins at 4:09 a.m. ET, when to the naked eye, it looks like a bite is being taken out of the moon. The lunar disk enters totality at 5:17 a.m. ET and will last for about an hour and a half.
One of my relatives is very much a night owl, so she will have no trouble catching this. The rest of us might have to set our alarms (or, let’s be honest, check out the video tomorrow; no shame either way!).
I don’t know about you but certain events pull me out of myself, away from the everyday minutia that anchor most of us to our little corners of the planet and remind me that we’re really just tiny dots on a spinning lump circling an isolated (if lively) corner of the Milky Way.
Eclipses are like that for me.
And lo, a total lunar eclipse is happening on Sunday night. Also, supermoon! That’s right, it won’t be just any eclipse, but one in which the moon’s orbit brings it about as close to the Earth as it comes, around 220,000 miles at perigee (rather than its more typical distance of 240,000 miles). And as this article in Slate describes it:
During this total lunar eclipse, the moon will appear about 14 percent larger and 30 percent brighter than Earthlings are used to seeing it… The last supermoon eclipse was in 1982, and it won’t happen again until 2033.
So, fellow Earthlings, get thee outside around 10:47pm EST Sunday evening and enjoy the dramatic sight of a harvest supermoon tinged red with Earth-shadow. Or, you know, watch it live-streamed on the Slooh Community Observatory network or see NASA TV’s coverage of the event from 8:00pm on. Your choice, just don’t forget the popcorn:)
J.R. Johnson 
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