Don’t miss a chance to see ‘Super blood wolf moon’ Sunday night

Sunday a total eclipse of the moon is visible from start to finish across all of North America, South America, and portions of Europe and Africa.

Lunar eclipses are one of the most beautiful sights in the night sky. They fascinate both experienced and novice observers.

Keep your fingers crossed for clear skies because the next total eclipse crossing the Pacific Northwest takes place in the year 2022.

A total eclipse takes place when the moon passes through the dark core, or umbra, of Earth’s cone-shaped shadow cast outward into space. This only occurs during a full moon when the sun, Earth, and moon, are aligned like birds perched on a high wire.

Why doesn’t a lunar eclipse take place every full moon?

Because the moon’s orbit around Earth normally passes above or below the umbra.

This Sunday, the moon lies 222,000 miles from Earth. At that distance, the Earth’s shadow is 5,600 miles wide (that’s nearly three times wider than the moon itself) and extends close to one million miles in length.

As the sun sets in the southwest the not yet eclipsed moon rises in the northeast.

The first hint of Sunday’s eclipse begins at 7:34 p.m. when the curved gray notch of the Earth’s shadow first touches the eastward traveling moon.

With each passing minute, this partially eclipsed moon buries itself deeper inside the umbra until totally immersed at 8:41 p.m. This marks the beginning of totality and the most colorful phase of the eclipse.

The copper, yellow, and brick red hues of an eclipsed moon originate from sunlight scattering through the Earth’s thin atmosphere made by an unbroken circle of sunrises and sunsets.

The eclipse’s color depends upon the transparency of clouds and dust scattered in our atmosphere. The cleaner the atmosphere, the brighter the eclipse. The more opaque the atmosphere, the darker the eclipse.

If you were an astronaut walking on the moon and inside the colorful umbra, the sun would be hidden behind the Earth.

Eclipse totality ends at 9:44 p.m. when the moon’s left (east) side starts brightening. The moon now begins to withdraw from the shadow. Slowly the moon’s color once again glows charcoal gray.

The final partial eclipse ends at 10:51 p.m. Now the fully un-shadowed moon is perched high in the winter sky.

The best way to easily view the eclipse is with your unaided eyes or a pair of binoculars. Dress comfortably if outside. If your house has a northeast facing window, watch the eclipse from the warmth of home.

Though I’m writing about this coming lunar eclipse, I want to shift gears and briefly share about the most incredible solar eclipse humans have ever seen.

In 1982, I had the pleasure of working on a science education film with the fourth astronaut (Alan Bean of Apollo 12) who walked on the moon back in 1969. Following the film’s premier, the crew, Alan, and I ate dinner at a well-attended restaurant near the White House.

We talked and dined for more than three hours while other patrons seated near us leaned closer to hear snippets of Alan’s conversation. There are few words that grab a person’s attention more than hearing someone say “When I walked on the moon.”

We were captivated as Alan talked about walking into a lunar crater, kicking moon rocks, orbiting above a cratered landscape, and glancing upward to see a blue-white sphere (Earth) hanging in the blackness of space like an illuminated ornament suspended from an invisible thread.

Held at arm’s length, the Earth is just two fingers wide. Imagine all of humanity’s history captured on that small colored ball.

Alan shared that during Apollo 12’s return to Earth the spacecraft’s crew of three witnessed a uniquely different solar eclipse than we experience on Earth. Instead of watching the new moon cover the sun, the astronauts saw the Earth covering the sun.

If you want to watch a short motion picture of Earth eclipsing our sun go online and search under “Apollo 12 solar eclipse.”

This story was originally published January 15, 2019 at 7:42 PM.