Vancouverites are soon in for a treat, with a lunar eclipse expected this evening.<\/p>\n
A lunar eclipse is when the full moon is in Earth\u2019s shadow, causing its usual bright white colour to redden, explained Michael Unger, the director of programming with the H.R. MacMillian Space Centre.<\/p>\n
In Earth\u2019s shadow, the direct light from the sun isn\u2019t hitting the moon anymore (which is what normally causes it to be that bright white). Instead, \u201cthere is\u00a0this curvature of light that goes around the Earth, and\u00a0that\u2019s what\u2019s shining on the moon,\u201d Unger said.<\/p>\n
The hue of red that the moon will be depends on what\u2019s currently happening in our atmosphere, similar to a sunset. For example, the colour of the sun deepens when there are more clouds or particles in the atmosphere, which Vancouverites are familiar with when there\u2019s wildfire smoke in the air.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat will bend the light a bit more, so that sunset kind of gets into like those like deeper reds, maybe even like purples,\u201d Unger said.<\/p>\n
Unger said eclipses happen all the time, but you need to be in a specific location to see them.<\/p>\n
\u201cOccasionally, things line up\u00a0perfectly,\u201d said Unger.<\/p>\n
When is the lunar eclipse happening tonight?<\/p>\n
Luckily, we won\u2019t have to plan any late nights to see the lunar eclipse, as the moon will be rising already eclipsed this evening.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhich is kind of unique. Sometimes\u00a0the moon is already full up there in the sky, and then it goes into the shadow. Or in this case, on Thursday evening, the moon is rising at 7:56 [p.m.], so the eclipse has already started by the time the moon is rising.\u201d<\/p>\n
Vancouverites who want to watch it will need to find a location with a view of the east, since the moon rises in that direction.<\/p>\n
It will reach its maximum eclipse at about 9:12 p.m. While Unger said it won\u2019t fully eclipse, it will get about 94 per cent eclipsed.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a pretty good portion of the moon,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
With wildfire smoke polluting Vancouver\u2019s air<\/a> recently, Unger said that it \u201cwill be interesting to see\u201d what colour the eclipse is.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s always a bit of a\u00a0surprise to see kind of exactly what color the moon is going to be,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Even on normal nights without an eclipse, wildfire smoke can affect the colour of the moon, he added.<\/p>\n