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If the skies are clear enough tonight, we’ll be able to see not only a lunar eclipse, but a super blood moon as well.
Visible for its entirety in North and South America, this eclipse is being referred to by some as a super blood moon – “super” because the Moon will be closest to Earth in its orbit during the full moon and “blood" because the total lunar eclipse will turn the Moon a reddish hue, says NASA.
“In contrast to a solar eclipse where the moon blocks the sun and special filters are a must for safety reasons, a lunar eclipse is simply the full moon sliding into our planet’s shadow. During totality the lunar surface turns a copper orange due to sunlight refracting or passing through our atmosphere much like those hot summer sunsets on earth,” says Backyard Astronomer Gary Boyle.
Here are all the important times you should know for the event:
- Partial umbral eclipse begins: 7:34 p.m. PST (The moon begins to enter the shadow.)
- Total lunar eclipse begins: 8:41 p.m. PST
- Greatest eclipse: 9:12 p.m. PST (The peak.)
- Total lunar eclipse ends: 9:43 p.m. PST
- Partial umbral eclipse ends: 10:51 p.m. PST (The moon completely exits the shadow.)
As for whether we'll be able to see the lunar show in the Okanagan, Wesla English, NowMedia meteorologist, says that partial clearing is expected this afternoon.
"A low over Washington has directing some clouds into our region this morning," she explains. "Clearing is expected, however there is some uncertainty on the timing of when these clouds will dissipate."
"We have a moderate chance that we will see partial clearing by this afternoon, with the best chance to see the eclipse tonight in the central and northern parts of the valley," she adds.
What if it’s cloudy where you live? Winter eclipses always bring with them the risk of poor viewing conditions, but if so you can still watch it live online at timeanddate.com.
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