{"id":503066,"date":"2026-03-04T11:01:23","date_gmt":"2026-03-04T11:01:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/503066\/"},"modified":"2026-03-04T11:01:23","modified_gmt":"2026-03-04T11:01:23","slug":"blood-moon-rising-total-lunar-eclipse-visible-in-santa-barbara","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/503066\/","title":{"rendered":"Blood Moon Rising: Total Lunar Eclipse Visible in Santa Barbara\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"

This article was underwritten in part by the Mickey Flacks Journalism Fund for Social Justice, a proud, innovative supporter of local news. To make a contribution go to sbcan.org\/journalism_fund<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"\"Tuesday morning\u2019s moon during the lunar eclipse\u2019s totality, as seen through Westmont Observatory\u2019s 8\u2033 refractor telescope. | Credit: Alisha Genetin<\/p>\n

Dimmed red lanterns lined the staircase to the upper deck of Westmont College\u2019s Observatory very early on Tuesday morning. By 3:30 a.m., more than 50 people gathered to view the night\u2019s lunar eclipse. The full moon, which had glowed like a bright white marble just a few hours earlier, looked dusty red and dulled.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cA lunar eclipse is when the moon passes through Earth\u2019s shadow,\u201d said Dr. Jennifer Gee, a physics professor at Westmont College and the college\u2019s observatory director. \u201cSo, the sun and the moon are on opposite sides of the earth.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Gee opened the observatory to the public from 3 to 5 a.m. on Tuesday. That way, she said, people could witness the moon at the peak of the eclipse \u2014 called totality \u2014 and as it passed out of the earth\u2019s umbra (that\u2019s its direct shadow).\u00a0<\/p>\n

Tuesday\u2019s moon was colloquially referred to as a \u201cblood moon.\u201d Light from the sun is made up of several colors \u2014 different frequency light waves are different colors on the visible spectrum. During an eclipse, Earth is between the sun\u2019s rays and the moon, and lower-frequency light waves (\u201cred\u201d in the visible spectrum) pass through the earth\u2019s atmosphere the most. It leaves the moon with its reddish \u201cblood\u201d tint.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Unlike with a solar eclipse, no one needed special eyewear to watch the event. Clad in hats, jackets, and blankets, folks chatted with each other and gazed up at the moon high in the sky, surrounded by stars. The next lunar eclipse that is visible from Santa Barbara will occur in June 2029.<\/p>\n

\"\"Tuesday\u2019s \u2018blood moon\u2019 lunar eclipse as seen just outside Westmont\u2019s Observatory. | Credit: Alisha Genetin<\/p>\n

Students and a few community members lined up to take a closer look at the moon through an eight-inch refractor telescope. Emeritus Professor of Physics Ken Kihlstrom stood at the entrance to the telescope room and answered questions from folks. He said the refractor telescope is often used to get a sharp image of things in the night sky \u2014 think the moon or Saturn\u2019s rings. The observatory\u2019s other telescope, a 24-inch Ritchey-Chretien telescope, uses a mirror to peer into space. Kihlstrom said this telescope is more effective with objects (rather than parts of the sky) that are dimmer and don\u2019t have sharply defined features. He said it also allows a camera to be mounted on it for research or photography.\u00a0<\/p>\n

By 4:30 a.m., as birds began to chirp, the moon was moving out from earth\u2019s shadow, and its white glow began to creep back across its face in a crescent shape. The eclipse ended around 6:20 a.m.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Gee said Westmont\u2019s Observatory is open to the public every third Friday of the month. The observatory also partners with the Santa Barbara Astronomical Unit from the Museum of Natural History, which can help people get started as amateur astronomers. At Westmont, Gee said, she\u2019s working to build a program studying variable stars. Recently, she said, Westmont\u2019s academic senate and faculty voted to approve an astrophysics major; it still needs to be approved by the Board of Trustees.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"Westmont\u2019s Observatory during the Lunar Eclipse on Tuesday morning. | Credit: Christina McDermott<\/p>\n

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