It’s been a busy week in the cosmos.
Were you able to catch the Perseid meteor shower earlier this week? If you slept through it — or were met with cloudy skies — fear not! Another spectacular celestial event is right around the corner.
In this segment of NHPR’s Cosmically Curious, host Patrick McNameeKing sits down with UNH astronomer John Gianforte to discuss an upcoming near-total lunar eclipse. Read on to find out when to look up, what to expect as the moon moves across Earth’s shadow, and why you can safely leave your eclipse glasses in the drawer.
Transcript
John Gianforte: Late in the evening on August 27, there is a partial lunar eclipse, but it's very nearly a total lunar eclipse as opposed to a solar eclipse. It's the moon that passes into the Earth's shadow.
Patrick McNameeKing: That's pretty cool. I never think of the Earth as having a shadow, but I guess that makes sense.
John Gianforte: The Earth has kind of an inner dark shadow called the umbral shadow, and an outer lighter penumbral shadow. Well, the moon will pass completely into Earth's outer penumbral shadow, but only a tiny piece of it won't pass into the inner umbral shadow. As it gets deeper and deeper into the eclipse, it'll take on a kind of orangish coloration to it, and it'll get quite pretty.
Patrick McNameeKing: Are there any precautions to be aware of when viewing a lunar eclipse?
John Gianforte: You don't have to worry about eye protection because lunar eclipses are perfectly safe to view. They happen at night. Nothing like a solar eclipse.
Patrick McNameeKing: Great. So remind me when this is.
John Gianforte: The best times to view the eclipse are beginning at about 10:30 Eastern Daylight Time on August 27.
The maximum eclipse when the moon is in as deeply into the Earth's shadow as it's going to get, that'll happen at 12:12, 12:13 a.m. on the 28th of August, and it's not something that you're going to miss in five minutes. It's going to last a few minutes. So if you're out there between 12 midnight and 12:30, you're going to see the best part.
If you have questions about the night sky, send us an email, cosmic@nhpr.org.
