{"id":5123,"date":"2025-09-07T05:52:16","date_gmt":"2025-09-07T05:52:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/5123\/"},"modified":"2025-09-07T05:52:16","modified_gmt":"2025-09-07T05:52:16","slug":"all-you-need-to-know-about-this-weekends-lunar-eclipse","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/5123\/","title":{"rendered":"All you need to know about this weekend’s lunar eclipse"},"content":{"rendered":"

Analysis: The autumn night sky in Ireland is an observer’s treasure-trove and the first celestial event of the season arrives on September 7 with a lunar eclipse and blood moon<\/p>\n

Spending even a few minutes gazing at a starry night or at our faithful Moon can be both humbling and empowering, connecting us with the grand stage of the cosmos itself. As my dear friend Dr. Niall Smith<\/a>, founder of Blackrock Castle Observatory<\/a> in Cork points out: you don’t need to go into space to experience the overview-effect, just look up at a blanket of stars on a clear night to experience the grandeur of the Universe of which we are each a part.<\/p>\n

There is also satisfaction in discovering for ourselves something of the make-up and clock-like movements of the sky, and of the countless celestial objects within it. As a matter of cosmic origins, Earth both rotates on its axis eastward and orbits the Sun eastward; and so, our perception of the movement of the sky itself is to witness everything rise from the east and set in the west, daily through Earth’s rotation, and yearly because of its orbit about the Sun.<\/p>\n

\"A
\nFigure 1: Earth’s rotation and its orbit about the Sun are both counter clockwise or eastward. Credit: Wikipedia Commons\/Tau’olunga<\/a><\/p>\n

\"This
\nFigure 2. Artists impression: Earth’s counter clockwise rotation and revolution about the Sun were both initiated by the rotational collapse of the dust and gas cloud from which all the planets, including Earth, formed around our Sun 4.5 billion years ago. Credit: NASA\/JPL<\/p>\n

So on any given night you will see, even over a few hours, a constellation move from east to west. But watch it nightly over a few weeks and you will also notice it rise earlier from the east and set earlier westward as we move along our orbit about the Sun.<\/p>\n

No clearer is this yearly drift of the constellations westward than in the autumn sky over Ireland. We’ve enjoyed months of glorious constellations, such as Cygnus<\/a>, Aquila<\/a> and Lyra<\/a> nested in the Milky Way<\/a> overhead each night, but by now noticeably drifting westward earlier in the evenings. Meanwhile the winter constellations Taurus<\/a> and Orion<\/a> – behind the Sun during the summer – are now coming round from the east late at night, giving us our first glimpse of the winter sky to come.<\/p>\n

\"Representation
\nFigure 3. The beautiful Summer Triangle of Deneb, Altair and Vega is still observable in our night sky through September but sets earlier in the west. Credit: Stellarium<\/p>\n

The Autumn Sky<\/p>\n

And so the autumn sky represents a hand-over from summer to winter; but still, including the best of both: early evening for summer constellations, late night anticipation of the winter sky. And for observers new, experienced, young and old, conditions are good: the nights getting longer so better even for youngsters before bedtime, yet not too cold as to be a deterrent.<\/p>\n

Accompanying this seasonal change are the circumpolar constellations high in the sky all year round. We mentioned some in our summer piece<\/a>: Cassiopeia<\/a>, Pegasus<\/a> and Andromeda<\/a> – all now overhead and gloriously visible. Finding Cassiopeia the great ‘W’ is a stirring moment; while Pegasus, which contains a gigantic square of four stars directly overhead, is so obvious you’ll wonder how you missed it – once you find it for the first time, that is! The huge size of constellation often surprises new observers, so forget binoculars and telescopes – just look up: they’re directly in front of you.<\/p>\n

The Plough<\/p>\n

One of the oldest constellations – included in a list by Ptolemy<\/a> himself – is Ursa Major<\/a> or Great Bear, the brightest part of which we call The Plough<\/a>. In mythology<\/a> Ursa Major was Callisto, beautiful servant to the goddess Juno whose jealousy spurred Juno’s husband, Jupiter, to protect Callisto by turning her into a great bear! Arcas, Callisto’s son, intent on killing it, was also turned into a bear by Jupiter, placing both in the sky as Ursa Major and Ursa Minor<\/a>, the constellation containing the Pole Star, Polaris<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Although Ursa Major is a challenge to identify, the Plough is easily seen high in the north sky. It is also an excellent signpost constellation: its front two stars point toward Polaris and continue to Pegasus and Cassiopeia; meanwhile its handle points toward the red-supergiant star Arcturus<\/a>, among others.<\/p>\n

\"Ursa
\nFigure 4: Ursa Major and Ursa Minor along with The Pole Star and other circumpolar constellations viewable all year round but particularly favourable in autumn. Credit: Stellarium<\/p>\n

\"The
\nFigure 5. The Plough is part of the great Bear and is an excellent signpost to other constellations, here pointing to the Pole Star in Ursa Minor. Credit: Wikipedia \/ Sanu N<\/p>\n

Celestial Events: September to December<\/p>\n

While constellations are permanent, there’s also a plethora of activity occurring in the sky: planets wandering through the Zodiac as they circle the Sun, lunar eclipses that dim the Moon as it passes through Earth’s shadow, meteors as Earth passes through dust trails from comets, and conjunctions as the Moon passes close to more distant planets and stars.<\/p>\n

These wondrous events reveal the perpetual motion of the universe – the harmony of the spheres – which over time have inspired myths and love songs, and profound astronomical discovery. This autumn will not disappoint:<\/p>\n

Lunar Rendezvous<\/p>\n

September 7, 2025 brings a lunar eclipse. Here, the full Moon passes through the Earth’s shadow. Our atmosphere scatters blue light (why the sky is blue), leaving only the Sun’s red light to illuminate the Moon as it passes through the Earth’s shadow. It will be an arresting sight just before 8pm on Sunday evening, when a blood-red Moon rises above the eastern horizon. The eclipse lasts until 10pm, when it returns to full brightness exiting the Earth’s shadow. Look carefully to see the curvature of Earth on the Moon.<\/p>\n

\"Diagram
\nFigure 6: A Lunar Eclipse occurs when the Moon passes through the Earth’s Shadow. As the Moon’s orbit is tilted with regard to Earth’s orbit about the Sun, this does not happen every month. Credit: Wikipedia \/ Sanu N<\/p>\n

\"Depiction
\nFigure 7: The Moon will appear a deep or blood-red during the eclipse. The Earth’s atmosphere scatters the Sun’s blue light but refracts its red light upon the Moon when passing through Earth’s shadow. Credit: Wikipedia \/ Robert Jay GaBany<\/p>\n

The Moon beguiles again before sunrise on September 19, 2025 when in conjunction (close approach) with both Venus and Regulus, the brightest star in Leo the Lion. A beautiful event to witness for early risers: look east after 5am.<\/p>\n

\"The
\nFigure 8: The Conjunction or close approach of The Moon, Venus and the star Regulus, annotated. Credit: Stellarium<\/p>\n

September 22, 2025 is the autumnal equinox<\/a>, when Earth is tilted neither toward nor away from the Sun, meaning a 12-hour day and 12-hour night, after which the nights are longer than the days until the next spring equinox<\/a>. October 7’s Harvest Full Moon is also a Supermoon, meaning it is closest to the Earth and appearing 14% larger and 30% brighter. This coincides with World Space Week<\/a> from October 4th to 10th, where in Ireland you’ll find hundreds of events<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"Image
\nFigure 9: A Supermoon occurs when the Moon is full while at its closest point to Earth in its orbit, leading to it appearing 14% larger and 30% brighter. Credit: Wikipedia \/ Marcoaliaslama<\/p>\n

Orionids Meteor Shower<\/p>\n

October 20, 2025 brings the Orionids Meteor Shower<\/a> as Earth passes through the dust trail of Halley’s comet<\/a>. While not spectacular, it will be excellent to watch this year because the Moon is not up. To observe, rap up well and head out when dark. No equipment is needed: just look south-east toward Orion and with a little patience you will see about 20 shooting stars criss-crossing the sky every hour!<\/p>\n

\"The
\nFigure 10: The sky from Ireland looking south in late autumn and early winter, showing the location of two meteor showers: the Orionids on October 20; and the Geminids on December 14. Each Meteor Shower radiant-point shown here in light-blue, but shooting stars to be seen across the sky. Credit: Stellarium<\/p>\n

Planetary Giants<\/p>\n

Toward November the two giant planets Jupiter and Saturn appear in the southern sky after about 9pm. Jupiter in the constellation of Gemini, Saturn in Pisces. Both appear as golden star-like objects but do not twinkle because we are seeing them as tiny discs in the sky, and not star-like points of light.<\/p>\n

\"The
\nFigure 11: The southern sky in mid-November showing the location of Jupiter and Saturn on either side of Orion. Credit: Stellarium<\/p>\n

\"Jupiter
\nFigure 12: Jupiter as seen through binoculars or a small telescope. the four objects on either side of Jupiter are the Galilean Moons Io, Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto. Credit: Stellarium<\/p>\n

\"Saturn
\nFigure 13: Saturn as seen through a modest telescope. Various moons are seen, and perhaps, Saturn’s rings as a thin line across its equator. Credit: Stellarium<\/p>\n

Saturn is intriguing through a small telescope because its rings are currently edge-on to Earth and appear as a thin line of light across the equator of the planet. Jupiter is spectacular through binoculars or a small telescope where you\u2019ll also see four bright points of light: the four large Galilean moons Io, Europa, Callisto and Ganymede that spurred Galileo to ponder that if they orbit Jupiter, perhaps Earth orbits the Sun – an idea for which he was placed under house arrest for the final nine years of his life.<\/p>\n

Geminids Meteor Shower<\/p>\n

We round off this whistlestop tor of the autumn night sky with our first glace into the December winter sky. By now the winter constellations of Orion, Taurus and Gemini are in full view looking south, and on December 14th the spectacular Geminids meteor shower will peak – delivering about 120 shooting stars per hour. Look south toward Gemini after dark.<\/p>\n

\"Winter
\nFigure 14: Newgrange in County Meath. Constructed 5000 years ago, it celebrates the Winter Solstice by passing light from the rising Sun into an inner chamber and onto a backstone with three carved spirals. Credit: Anthony Murphy \/ http:\/\/www.mythicalireland.com<\/p>\n

Winter Solstice<\/p>\n

The Winter Solstice – the shortest day of the year in the northern hemisphere on December 21st – has been spectacularly marked in Ireland for 5000 years by the neolithic tomb Newgrange in County Meath, when the Sun shines into its inner chamber at sunrise. Consider a visit to Newgrange on the winter solstice where it bestows a potent sense of renewal as we head toward the new year.<\/p>\n

Follow RT\u00c9 Brainstorm on WhatsApp<\/a> and Instagram<\/a> for more stories and updates<\/p>\n

The views expressed here are those of the author and do not represent or reflect the views of RT\u00c9<\/p>\n