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Posts Tagged ‘lunar eclipse’

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!

A total eclipse happens this week, and it will be the last one for 3 years : NPR

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.

Want more science? Check out NASA’s page on this eclipse: What You Need to Know About the Lunar Eclipse – Moon: NASA Science.

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!).

Enjoy!

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Photo by Vincenzo Malagoli on Unsplash

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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:)

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