The Blood Moon is back! The total lunar eclipse will take place in May 2022.
Fred Espenak, a retired NASA eclipse scientist, has been watching the night sky since he was eight years old and plans to look up for the lunar eclipse on May 15.
After about six decades staring at the sky, the Arizona resident said he still enjoys watching the shifting of the shading as the moon turns red during a total lunar eclipse, going fully into the Earth's deep shadow. Read our full guide for the Super Flower Blood Moon lunar eclipse to prepare for the epic lunar event.
Webcasts: How to watch Super Flower Blood Moon lunar eclipse online
Espenak told Space.com of lunar eclipses that you can't tell the difference 10 seconds before or 10 seconds after. From minute to minute, you can see changes, but from second to second, you can't.
The total eclipse of the Flower Moon will be visible in parts of the Americas, Africa, Europe, and the east Pacific. At the edge of supermoon status, the moon will appear slightly large in this eclipse. If you want to photograph the moon, or want to prepare your gear for the total lunar eclipse, check out our best cameras. You can read our guides on how to photograph a lunar eclipse and how to photograph the moon with a camera.
Some people disagree that the full Flower Moon is a super moon. The first-ever super moon was defined by Richard Nolle in 1979 as a full moon that comes within 10% of its closest point to Earth.
That is the definition that I use, because it was the first one. He said that the precedent was set by that 90%. There is no real reason why it should be more than 85%.
The perigee and apogee of the moon are calculated by Espenak. The Flower Moon is not a super moon, but it will be in June, according to NASA.
The perigee point and apogee point of the moon varies from one orbit to the other, according to Espenak. The Earth and the sun pull on the moon.
The limits of what you can get as a super moon varies from one moon to another.
May 16, June 14, July 13 and August 12 will be the next four full moons in a row. He noted that the streak is not uncommon. The four consecutive full supermoons will be seen in 2023, as well as in 2024. There are three in a row.
Every 14 months or so, you get a series of moons that are more than the threshold. He explained that every 14 months or so, we get two or three to four. The relative size of the full moon is so small that even he can't tell the difference from looking at the sky.
The eclipse will become quite interesting once it reaches the firstumbral contact with the moon. Espenak said that the umbra will look like the Cookie Monster has taken a chunk out of the moon.
He said one doesn't really see the color until you get close to totality. The Blood Moon should be easy to spot within minutes of totality, although that depends on the lighting and atmospheric conditions in your region.
Sharp eyed observers will be able to see the part of the moon that is deep in the shadow.
Espenak said that the Blood Moon can look from bright orange to fire truck red to almost invisible dark brown gray.
TimeandDate.com says the partial eclipse phase of the moon eclipse begins at 10:28 pm on May 15. On May 16th, it starts at 0228GMT. The Blood Moon peak is May 16 at 12:11 a.m. The sun rises at 0411 GMT. The event is over at 1:45 a.m. The sun rises at 0555 GMT. The penumbral eclipse will start an hour earlier and end an hour after the partial eclipse.
If you snap an amazing lunar eclipse photo and would like to share it with Space.com's readers, send your photo, comments, and your name and location to us.
Follow Elizabeth on social media. Follow us on social media.
All Rights Reserved © 2024
