Coloradans have a chance to see a lunar eclipse this week during which the Earth’s shadow will cover more than 90% of the full moon.
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Thursday night’s celestial event is technically a partial lunar eclipse, but it’s about as close to a total eclipse as we will see for another several years, said Nick Conant, education and theater manager at the University of Colorado’s Fiske Planetarium in Boulder. Lunar eclipses happen when the Earth moves between the sun and moon, and casts a shadow upon the moon.
“This one is going to be a pretty rare version of a partial eclipse because it’s going to be so deep. (The moon) will be almost completely covered,” Conant said. “In this case, the moon isn’t going directly through the center of Earth’s shadow. It will be skirting along the edge and that will make it so it appears about 96% covered at the maximum during this eclipse.”
An added bonus is that sky watchers don’t have to stay up too late to see the best of the eclipse. The Earth’s shadow is expected to start covering the moon at 8:34 p.m. with maximum coverage peaking at 10:13 p.m., according to the Denver Astronomical Society. By midnight, the eclipse will be over.
Denver’s forecast is currently calling for “clear to partly cloudy” skies on Thursday night, so as long as cloud coverage remains at a minimum, the moon should be visible low on the horizon, Conant said.
Unlike solar eclipses, which are dangerous to view with the naked eye, lunar eclipses are safe to look at directly. Sky watchers can even use a telescope or binoculars to get a closer look without risking their safety.
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During the eclipse, the top crest of the moon will remain bright white while the rest will be darkened by the Earth’s shadow, Conant said. While there may be some reddish or amber hues, Colorado won’t likely get a full blood moon show.
“Blood moon would be the place where it starts to appear light-ish amber color, or you even get to see it becoming kind of a red color. That red color really stands out when the entire moon darkened by the Earth’s shadow,” Conant said. That’s caused by the sun’s light refracting through Earth’s atmosphere and effectively “casting a sunset onto the moon,” he added.
The eclipse is worth seeing, Conant said, since it won’t be until June 2029 that Colorado is in the line of the next total lunar eclipse. (You may have missed the last one since it happened in March of this year in the wee hours before dawn.) This month’s full moon is the Sturgeon Moon, so-named for the giant lake sturgeon of the Great Lakes and Lake Champlain, according to the Farmers Almanac.
Folks near Boulder can join astronomers from the Fiske Planetarium and the neighboring Sommers-Bausch Observatory on the CU campus for a special event on Thursday evening. From 8:30 to 11:15 p.m., experts will be on hand with telescopes to amplify the view of the eclipse. The event is free to attend, though Conant advises arriving early since about 1,000 people came to the last watch party.
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