The moon moves from right to left, passing through the penumbra and timbre, leaving behind an eclipse pattern with the times of different stages of the eclipse. Credit: NASA Science Visualization Studio
What is a lunar eclipse?
A lunar eclipse occurs when the Sun, Earth, and Moon align so that the Moon passes into the Earth’s shadow. In a total lunar eclipse, the entire moon falls into the darkest part of the earth’s shadow, called the timbra. When the Moon is in the canopy, it will acquire a reddish tinge. Lunar eclipses are sometimes called “bloody moons” because of this phenomenon.
During a lunar eclipse, the Earth’s atmosphere scatters sunlight. The blue light from the Sun is scattered and red, orange and yellow light with a longer wavelength passes, turning our Moon red. * not to scale. Credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center / Science Visualization Studio
How can I observe the eclipse?
You do not need special equipment to observe a lunar eclipse, although binoculars or a telescope will improve the view and the red color. The dark environment away from bright light creates the best viewing conditions.
The eastern half of the United States and the whole of South America will have the opportunity to see every stage of the lunar eclipse. The totality will be visible in much of Africa, Western Europe, Central and South America, and much of North America.
Map showing where the lunar eclipse is visible on May 15-16, 2022. The contours mark the edge of the field of view during the contact of the eclipse. The map is centered at 63 ° 52’W, the lunar length in the middle of the eclipse. Credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center / Science Visualization Studio
What if it’s cloudy or I’m not in the viewing area?
NASA will include a live broadcast of the eclipse from places around the world! NASA will also host an episode of NASA Science Live from 11:00 pm to 12:00 pm ET. Watch here:
What can I expect to observe?
UTC (May 16) EDT (May 15-16) PDT (May 15) Highlights What’s happening? 13: 329: 32, May 15— The moon is not yet visibleThe semi-shadow eclipse beginsThe moon enters the earth’s penumbra, the outer part of the shadow. The moon begins to darken, but the effect is quite subtle. 2: 2710: 27 pm— The moon is not yet visiblePartial eclipse beginsThe moon begins to enter the earth’s tan and begins a partial eclipse. With the naked eye, when the moon moves in the dark, it seems that a bite is taken out of the moon’s disk. The part of the Moon inside the voice will look very dark.3: 2911: 29 pm8: 29 pmTotality beginsThe whole moon is now in the dumb earth. The moon will turn copper red. Try binoculars or a telescope for a better view. If you want to take a picture, use a tripod camera with an exposure of at least a few seconds. 4: 5312: 53 in the morning, May 169: 53 in the afternoonThe totality is overWhen the moon leaves the earth, the red color fades. It will look as if a bite is being released from the opposite side of the lunar disk, as before. 5:55:51:55 in the morning, 10:55 p.m.The partial eclipse endsThe whole moon is in the earth’s penumbra, but again the eclipse is insignificant. 6: 502: 50 in the morning, 11:50 in the eveningThe half-shadow eclipse endsThe eclipse is over.
What else can I see tonight?
The moon will be in the constellation Libra. Here are some more tips for observing the sky for the month of May.
Why does the moon turn red during a lunar eclipse?
The same phenomenon that makes our skies blue and our sunsets red causes the moon to turn red during a lunar eclipse. It’s called Rayleigh scattering. Light travels in waves and different colors of light have different physical properties. Blue light has a shorter wavelength and is more easily scattered by particles in the Earth’s atmosphere than red light, which has a longer wavelength.
Red light, on the other hand, travels more directly through the atmosphere. When the Sun is above our heads, we see blue light all over the sky. But when the sun sets, the sunlight must pass through more atmosphere and travel farther before it reaches our eyes. The blue light from the Sun is scattered and red, orange and yellow light passes through it with a longer wavelength.
During a lunar eclipse, the moon turns red because the only sunlight reaching the moon passes through the Earth’s atmosphere. The more dust or clouds there are in the Earth’s atmosphere during an eclipse, the redder the Moon will look. It is as if all the sunrises and sunsets of the world are projected on the moon.
Depiction of the Earth by the artist during a lunar eclipse from the surface of the Moon. When viewed from the moon, as in this animation, the Earth hides the Sun. A red ring, the sum of all the sunrises and sunsets on Earth, outlines the earth’s limb and sheds a ruddy light on the lunar landscape. With the darkness of the eclipse, the stars come out. The city lights of North and South America are visible from the night side of the Earth. The part of the Earth seen in this animation is the part where the lunar eclipse can be seen. Credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center / Science Visualization Studio
Will any NASA spacecraft observe the eclipse?
NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) team, NASA’s spacecraft orbiting the moon, will turn off the instruments during the eclipse. The spacecraft is powered by solar energy, so the LRO will turn off to keep its battery while the moon is in the shadows.
The Lucy spacecraft, which is currently on a voyage to explore Jupiter’s Trojan asteroids, will turn its gaze to its home planet to observe part of the five-hour eclipse, from just before the half-eclipse to just before the end of the aggregate. The mission team plans to capture both the Earth and the Moon with the L’LORRI high-resolution camera. Since the spacecraft will be 64 million miles and will use the Deep Space Network, it will likely take several weeks to download and process the images.
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