Theater is space. The perpetual dance between the moons, planets, stars, and other celestial bodies in the universe may produce the most spectacular sights that humans will ever see. The late evening of Thursday, March 13 and the early morning of March 14 will include a nearby sky spectacular. At this time, a lunar eclipse known as the “blood moon” occurs, which can be seen in North and South America, parts of Africa, the Pacific, and Europe. Why does a lunar eclipse occur, when is the ideal time to see this one, and how did it come to be known as the blood moon?
The three bodies constantly obstruct each other’s path, occasionally obstructing the view from one to the other as the moon circles the Earth and the Earth circles the sun. A solar eclipse happens when the moon moves between the sun and the Earth, as it did on April 8 of last year. The moon’s disk blocks the sun’s disk, creating a shadow on Earth. Since the moon is 400 times smaller than the sun, it should not significantly impact the amount of sunlight that reaches us. However, the moon is also 400 times closer to us in a fantastic example of cosmic serendipity, making the solar and lunar disks appear to be precisely the same size in our sky, making for a perfect fit, with only the sun’s corona—or fires—flaring out from behind the moon during totality.
A separate sun-moon-Earth alignment is used for lunar eclipses, which happen when the Earth passes between the sun and the moon, obstructing the solar light that normally bounces off the moon and replacing it with a shadow. Partial lunar eclipses merely cover a portion of the moon’s surface, whereas total eclipses darken the moon’s entire face. The exactness of the three bodies’ alignment determines the kind of lunar eclipse.
The moon does not circle the equator of our planet in a perfectly flat plane. Instead, its orbit is tilted at a 5.145-degree angle, making it slightly cockeyed. Accordingly, a section of the lunar surface may occasionally receive some sun light when the moon passes in front of the Earth just above or below the planet’s midline. A total lunar eclipse will only take place this week, when the three bodies are in perfect alignment.
An eclipsed moon does not entirely disappear from the sky, in contrast to a total solar eclipse, in which the sun’s disk is entirely blackened. Instead, it continues to receive some sunlight that filters through the Earth’s atmosphere and, more importantly, streams past the planet. The moon’s color changes dramatically as a result. All of the visible spectrum’s hues are present in solar radiation, but the higher frequency blue wavelengths are scattered away as it enters our atmosphere, giving our sky its distinctive hue. Wavelengths of orange and red light flow straight through. The term “blood moon” refers to the reddish glow that surrounds the moon during a lunar eclipse.
When a lunar eclipse is not occurring at this time of year, a full moon is known by different names.A March full moon is also known as a “worm moon,” according to the Old Farmer’s Almanac. This term is a reference to the earthworms that usually emerge from the ground in the early spring or to the beetle larvae that also emerge from tree branches during the post-winter thaw. The March full moon has also been referred to by Native American tribes as the Eagle Moon, Goose Moon, or Crow Comes Back Moon, indicating the return of these creatures in the spring.
Regardless of the moon’s name, you will probably lose some sleep this week as you watch it sink into shadow.The moon will first enter shadow on March 13 at 11:57 p.m. EDT (8:57 p.m. PDT), according to NASA. Totality lasts slightly over an hour and starts at 2:26 a.m. on the east coast on March 14 (11:26 p.m. on the west coast on March 13). You will have many opportunities if you sleep through this one. On average, there are two lunar eclipses per year. Although it will pass over the Americas, the next one will occur on September 7, 2025, and will be visible over the majority of the rest of the world. Our continent will experience its next lunar eclipse. on June 26, 2029. The nighttime sky will, as is its wont, continue to put on its pageants.