When Earth casts its shadow on the Moon it can cause quite a spectacle. Find out how often these events occur, and where you can view them from over the next ten years. Show
You might be familiar with the idea of a solar eclipse: when the Moon passes in front of the Sun from our point of view on Earth, blocking it out and turning day to night for a few minutes on the surface of our planet. But what happens during a lunar eclipse, when will the next one occur and how can you see one? What is a lunar eclipse?A lunar eclipse is what happens when, if you were standing on the Moon, you would see Earth block out the Sun. It involves the Moon passing directly into Earth's shadow as all three bodies align - just as part of Earth passes into the Moon's shadow during a solar eclipse - and, in so doing, it causes some odd changes in appearance.
The good thing about all types of lunar eclipse is that, unlike a solar eclipse, they are safe to view with the naked eye. This is because lunar eclipses only reflect sunlight - they don't get any brighter than a full Moon, which you've probably safely observed many times before. How to get the best view of a lunar eclipseTo get the best view you'll need to be on the night side of Earth when one occurs, and you'll need a clear sky that's free of clouds. No specialist equipment is needed. Try to minimise the light in your vicinity and, ideally, watch from a spot where your line of sight won't be obstructed by tall buildings or trees. A lunar eclipse can last several hours, but the period of totality - when the Moon is completely in Earth's shadow - usually only lasts an hour or so. Why isn't there a lunar eclipse every month?A lunar eclipse only occurs during a full Moon, when the Sun, Earth and Moon are all aligned. But despite the Moon only taking 29.5 days to orbit Earth and complete a cycle from full Moon to full Moon, there are only on average about three lunar eclipses every year. This is because the Moon's orbit around Earth is not in a flat plane - it's angled at about five degrees, which means that the Moon often goes above or below Earth's shadow as it orbits around. As a result, lunar eclipses tend to come in batches when the Moon is at a similar inclination. There were three total lunar eclipses in 2018, for example.
A lunar eclipse lasts several hours. The period of totality in a total lunar eclipse, when the Moon turns red, lasts about an hour. © Laura Ngo via Flickr (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)
There are three types of lunar eclipse: a total lunar eclipse, a penumbral lunar eclipse and a partial lunar eclipse. To understand the difference between them, we first need to understand how Earth's shadow works. As our planet blocks out the Sun's light, it actually casts two different shadows. One is a larger shadow that extends away from Earth at an angle, known as the penumbra. Directly behind Earth, however, is a darker and narrower shadow, called the umbra. What is a total lunar eclipse?This is when the Moon passes into Earth's umbral shadow, which can result in the Moon turning red. This is sometimes called a 'blood Moon', although astronomers aren't super keen on that term, which has more roots in astrology. National Geographic share their guide to a lunar eclipse:
The Moon turns red during an eclipse because of how the Sun's light interacts with Earth's atmosphere. As it hits the atmosphere, shorter wavelengths of light such as the colour blue are scattered outwards. Longer wavelengths like red, however, are bent or refracted into Earth's umbra. When these strike the surface of the Moon, they can make it appear red - a similar process to how the sky appears red during a sunrise or sunset. What is a penumbral lunar eclipse?When the Moon passes into the outer shadow, we call this a penumbral lunar eclipse. There aren't many noticeable effects during a penumbral eclipse. The Moon only gets very slightly darker, and it is normally difficult to notice, even with a telescope.
A lunar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes into Earth's shadow © NASA
As its name might imply, a partial lunar eclipse occurs when the Sun, Earth and Moon aren't exactly aligned, so only part of the Moon passes into Earth's umbral shadow and thus only part of it appears red. What is a super blood wolf Moon?Some people have different terms for a total lunar eclipse depending on when it occurs. The distance from Earth to the Moon changes from about 360,000 kilometres to 400,000 kilometres over the course of the Moon's orbit. When the Moon is at its closest, it is slightly larger and brighter in our sky, earning it the moniker of 'supermoon'. A total lunar eclipse during this time is therefore sometimes called a 'super blood Moon'. On 21 January 2019, however, a total lunar eclipse occurred, unusually, on the first full Moon of the year. As this is known as a 'wolf Moon', that total lunar eclipse earned itself the nickname 'super blood wolf Moon'.
It can be difficult to notice a change on the Moon during a penumbral lunar eclipse © O'Dea via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Over the next few years there will be quite a few lunar eclipses to look forward to, including partial lunar eclipses on 28 October 2023 and 18 September 2024. But it's the total lunar eclipses you'll really want to look out for, on these dates: 14 March 2025: UK, Europe, Africa, Americas, east Asia, Australia 7 September 2025: UK, Europe, Asia, Australia 31 December 2028: UK, Europe, Asia, Australia, western United States and Canada Note: the dates shown are when the eclipses will occur in the UK. Total lunar eclipses viewable elsewhere in the world over the next few yearsOther parts of the world will also have a chance to see additional total lunar eclipses in the coming years. Here's what to look forward to: 8 November 2022: Americas, Asia, Australia 3 March 2026: Americas, Asia, Australia A total lunar eclipse will sweep across Asia, Australia, the Americas and the Pacific on November 8, 2022. Penumbral eclipse begins at 08:02 UTC on November 8 (3:02 a.m. EST). A final note. Lunar eclipses are safe to view with the unaided eye. Binoculars and telescopes enhance the view, but aren’t required. Visit timeanddate.com to get eclipse timings from your location. November 8 total lunar eclipse will be near Mars!For some observers, an ISS transit during the eclipse
More eclipse maps, November 8, 2022Moon, constellation, SarosGreatest eclipse takes place 5.8 days before the moon reaches apogee, its farthest point from Earth for the month. So, it’s a relatively small-sized moon during this eclipse. During the eclipse, the moon is located in the direction of the constellation Aries. The Saros catalog describes the periodicity of eclipses. This November 8 total eclipse belongs to Saros 136. It is number 20 of 72 eclipses in the series. All eclipses in this series occur at the moon’s ascending node. The moon moves southward with respect to the node with each succeeding eclipse in the series. The instant of greatest eclipse – when the axis of the moon’s shadow cone passes closest to Earth’s center – takes place at 10:59 UTC (5:59 a.m. EST). This total eclipse is central, meaning the moon’s disk actually passes through the axis of Earth’s umbral shadow. During the eclipse, the moon is located in the direction of the constellation Aries. Because they are so deep, such eclipses typically have the longest total phases. In this case, the duration of totality lasts almost an hour and a half: 85.7 minutes! Next eclipse and eclipse seasonsThe total lunar eclipse of November 8, 2022, is preceded two weeks earlier by a partial solar eclipse on October 25, 2022. These eclipses all take place during a single eclipse season. An eclipse season is an approximate 35-day period during which it’s inevitable for at least two (and possibly three) eclipses to take place. The current October-November 2022 eclipse season features a partial solar eclipse on October 25 and a total lunar eclipse on November 7-8. In 2023 we have another April-May eclipse season with a total solar eclipse on April 20, 2023, and a penumbral lunar eclipse on May 5-6, 2023. The October-November eclipse season includes an annular solar eclipse on October 14, 2023, and a partial lunar eclipse on October 28-29, 2023. November full moon is the Beaver MoonCrest of the full moon falls at 11:02 UTC on November 8. That’s 5:02 a.m. CST, and it occurs during the midpoint of the total lunar eclipse. All the full moons have popular nicknames. If the full moon in November falls before November 7, it is called the Hunter’s Moon. Otherwise, like this year, it is the full Beaver Moon. The name Beaver Moon recognizes that November is the time of year when beavers prepare their dens for the coming cold months and stock up on food. Other names for the November full moon include the Frost Moon because of the cold nights, and the Digging Moon because of the last chances of seasonal foraging by forest animals. November full moon is in TaurusThe November full moon can lie in front of one of three constellations of the zodiac. Most years, as it does this year, it lies in Taurus. But it can also be in Aries as it will in 2025. Occasionally, it falls in Cetus the Whale, the sprawling constellation just south of Aries. The moon is roundest on the day when it is full, but the day before and the day after, it appears almost, but not quite, full. Total lunar eclipse maps and dataWhat a total lunar eclipse looks like from our EarthSky communityHow to take photos of a lunar eclipse. Submit your photo to EarthSky here. Bottom line: The November 8, 2022, total lunar eclipse will be visible across Asia, Australia, the Americas and the Pacific. It’ll be early morning for North America. Read more from EarthSky: Tides, and the pull of the moon and sun See photos of the May 2022 lunar eclipse See photos of the December 2021 solar eclipse EarthSky’s monthly night sky guide: Visible planets and more Read more: Total solar eclipse in North America April 8, 2024
Fred Espenak is a scientist emeritus at Goddard Space Flight Center. For decades, he has been NASA's expert on eclipses, and some of you may know him as Mr. Eclipse. Fred maintains NASA's official eclipse web site (eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov) as well as his personal web site on eclipse photography (mreclipse.com). Now retired and living in rural Arizona, Fred spends most clear nights losing sleep and photographing the stars (astropixels.com). His latest website is devoted to helping you enjoy eclipses (www.eclipsewise.com). He is an EarthSky content partner. |
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