It’s been an exciting few days in the cosmos! On Sat., February 28, the evening sky hosted a rare parade of six planets: Mercury, Venus, Neptune, Saturn, Uranus, and Jupiter all appeared shortly after sunset. While four were visible to the unaided eye (weather permitting), people with telescopes or binoculars were lucky enough to spot Uranus and Neptune as well.
The coming week promises to be equally thrilling, centered around a total lunar eclipse on Tuesday, March 3.
The science behind the shadow
"Lunar eclipses can only take place during the full moon phase, just as solar eclipses only occur during the new moon," says John Giaforte, lead observer at UNH.
In a solar eclipse, the moon aligns between the Sun and the Earth, casting its shadow onto our planet. If you are in that path, you see the Sun disappear. A lunar eclipse, however, happens at night when the Earth moves between the Sun and the moon. If you are on the night side of the Earth, you get a front-row seat to the moon passing into our shadow.
What to expect on Tuesday
The show begins on the evening of Monday, March 2, when “you'll see a very full, bright moon,” says Giaforte. On Tuesday, March 3, between 4:00 a.m. and 6:00 a.m., the moon will begin its transit into the Earth's shadow. It will sink deeper into the darkness until just before moonset, when it enters the umbral shadow — the deepest part of the eclipse.
How to watch
According to Gianforte, finding a flat place (with unobstructed views) is a good place to be. And because it’s a lunar eclipse and not a solar one, there's no problem with eye protection. You just sit back, relax and enjoy the show.
However, if you still have your solar eclipse glasses from 2024, don’t toss them yet! While you'll have to travel outside of New Hampshire to see them, there are two solar eclipses coming in 2026 and another in 2027.
Have a question for our Cosmically Curious team? Email us at cosmic@nhpr.org
Cosmically Curious is a collaboration between UNH, St. Anselm College, the McAuliffe-Shepard Discovery Center, and NHPR.
