In the early morning of Mar. 3, the blood moon will occur, but really the moon turns burnt orange and a copper colour.
“It depends on how much junk is in the upper atmosphere of the Earth, as the sun refracts through. In the old days it was called the blood moon, but it’s just a total eclipse of the moon,” says The Backyard Astronomer Gary Boyle.
As the moon orbits the Earth, it does so on a bit of an incline, Boyle explains. “Not every month has an eclipse.”
“The incline is about five degrees, which is just a few lunar diametres, which means the full moon will pass above the shadow of darkness behind the Earth in space. Sometimes below that shadow. But when it does move into the shadow of the Earth, which will occur Mar. 3, the moon gets dark and turns that beautiful orange colour,” Boyle adds.
According to Boyle, the colour is just like a beautiful sunset – that beautiful red-orange colour, which is the same thing happening on the moon.
Earth sees about four eclipses a year – usually two lunar and two solar, Boyle notes. “The next solar eclipse will take place Feb. 17, but that’s an annular eclipse.”
“That’s when the moon does not cover the entire sun, because the moon is too far away from Earth. Unfortunately, that is only from the tip of Argentina through Antarctica. Only the penguins will really enjoy that,” Boyle jokes.
Boyle says the next total solar eclipse will occur Aug. 12 around Portugal. “When the moon will cover the sun. When the moon is closer to the Earth, it blocks the entire sun, as it did a couple years ago in April.”
“That’ll be a wonderful event, but we will not see it from Canada.”
Boyle adds the lunar eclipse is very safe to look at, but with a solar eclipse, you do need safe eye protection. “Looking at the moon will be just a full moon getting darker.”
In Alberta, the lunar eclipse will begin at 2:50 a.m. and will end at 6:17 a.m.
The sun is also pretty active, with some massive solar flares over the past few months.
“Every now and then just giving you these hissy fits, like little toddlers. So maybe next month, maybe tomorrow, there could be a massive flare coming toward us,” Boyle says. “The sun is pretty much at the peak of solar max, so more of these events are on the horizon.”
To find out more about solar flares, visit spaceweather.com.
During the second half of the year, Boyle notes, the Perseids meteor shower will return in August. “It’s a wonderful time because people are camping at the cottage and it happens Aug. 12 during a new moon because of the eclipse. The moon will not interfere during the Perseids.”
“We just came off the Geminids in December,” Boyle adds.
For now, there are minor meteor showers in the sky. “There could be as little as five meteors per hour. Not even worth going out to look at, but space is space. You might see a gigantic fireball, as you walk the dog or take a stroll at night, so keep looking up,” says Boyle.