A deep partial lunar eclipse will turn nearly the entire full Moon red Thursday night, Aug. 27.<\/p>\n
Skywatchers around Lake Superior have another reason to look up this week.<\/p>\n
On the night of\u00a0Thursday, Aug. 27, into early Friday, Aug. 28, a deep partial lunar eclipse will sweep across North America, putting about\u00a096% of the full Moon into Earth\u2019s shadow\u00a0at its peak.\u00a0This eclipse will turn nearly the entire full Moon red Thursday night.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s just shy of a total lunar eclipse \u2014 the phenomenon commonly called a \u201cBlood Moon\u201d \u2014 and should still produce a dramatic sight as most of the Moon takes on shades of copper, orange and deep red.<\/p>\n
Around Lake Superior, the best part of the show happens at a fairly friendly hour. Maximum eclipse occurs at about 11:13\u00a0p.m. CDT Thursday, when nearly the entire lunar surface will be covered by Earth\u2019s dark inner shadow.<\/p>\n
When to Look<\/p>\n
The eclipse will unfold gradually over several hours, but you don\u2019t have to stay outside all night to catch the main event.<\/p>\n
The Moon begins entering the darker portion of Earth\u2019s shadow at about 9:33\u00a0p.m. CDT, when a noticeable dark \u201cbite\u201d will begin creeping across its surface. Over the next hour and a half, that shadow will spread across nearly the entire Moon.<\/p>\n
Peak viewing comes around 11:13\u00a0p.m. CDT, when approximately 96% of the lunar disc will be eclipsed.<\/p>\n
For observers around Lake Superior, look generally toward the southeastern sky during the main portion of the eclipse. A spot with an unobstructed view of the horizon will offer the best chance to follow the event from its early stages.<\/p>\n
Why Does the Moon Turn Red?<\/p>\n
A lunar eclipse occurs when the Sun, Earth and Moon line up closely enough for the Moon to pass through Earth\u2019s shadow.<\/p>\n
But Earth doesn\u2019t block every bit of sunlight from reaching the Moon. Some sunlight passes through our atmosphere, where shorter blue wavelengths are scattered while red and orange wavelengths continue through and are bent toward the lunar surface.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s essentially the same reason sunsets look red.<\/p>\n
During a total lunar eclipse, that filtered light can turn the entire Moon rusty orange or crimson, earning the event its popular \u201cBlood Moon\u201d nickname. Thursday\u2019s eclipse falls just short of totality, but with 96% coverage, much of the Moon should still take on that distinctive color.<\/p>\n
August’s Sturgeon Moon<\/p>\n
The eclipse also coincides with August\u2019s full Moon, traditionally known as the Sturgeon Moon.<\/p>\n
The name has long been associated with the large freshwater fish that were historically abundant and easier to catch during late summer \u2014 making it an especially fitting full Moon for the Great Lakes.<\/p>\n
During the eclipse, only a thin sliver of the Sturgeon Moon will remain outside Earth\u2019s deepest shadow.<\/p>\n
How and Where to Watch<\/p>\n
Unlike a solar eclipse, no special eye protection is needed for a lunar eclipse. It\u2019s completely safe to watch with the naked eye.<\/p>\n
Binoculars can make the changing colors and boundary of Earth\u2019s shadow even more striking, while a small telescope will reveal lunar craters and other features disappearing into the shadow.<\/p>\n
And while you don\u2019t necessarily need a truly dark sky to see the eclipse, getting away from bright streetlights can make the Moon\u2019s changing colors easier to appreciate.<\/p>\n
Around Lake Superior, that leaves no shortage of possibilities\u2014a favorite stretch of shoreline, an overlook, a quiet inland lake or simply a backyard with a good view of the sky. Popular viewing spots include:<\/p>\n
Minnesota: Split Rock Lighthouse State Park; Tettegouche State Park
\n\tWisconsin: Meyers Beach; Little Sand Bay
\n\tMichigan: Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore; Porcupine Mountains
\n\tOntario: Agawa Bay at Lake Superior Provincial Park; Sleeping Giant Provincial Park
<\/p>\n
Then, as always with celestial events around the Big Lake, there\u2019s one other ingredient we\u2019ll need:<\/p>\n
Clear skies.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A deep partial lunar eclipse will turn nearly the entire full Moon red Thursday night, Aug. 27. Skywatchers…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":872720,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[49,48,66],"class_list":["post-872719","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-science","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-science"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/872719","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=872719"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/872719\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/872720"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=872719"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=872719"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=872719"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}