FILE - Light shines from a total lunar eclipse over Santa Monica Beach in Santa Monica, Calif., Wednesday, May 26, 2021.
Image Credit: (AP Photo/Ringo H.W. Chiu, File)
March 11, 2025 - 6:00 AM
Skywatchers might want to sacrifice some sleep later this week to watch a total lunar eclipse, a celestial event that only occurs every two or three years.
In a total lunar eclipse, the sun, Earth and moon are lined up so the entire moon passes through the darkest part of Earth’s shadow called the umbra.
The celestial event starts on Thursday, March 13 at 8:57 p.m. when the moon will grow dim as it enters the outer part of Earth’s shadow called the penumbra, according to NASA.
At 10:09 p.m. the moon enters Earth’s darkest shadow, called the umbra, and will look like a big, dark bite has been taken out of it. At 11:26 p.m. totality begins where the entire moon will be in Earth's darkest shadow, appearing very dim and reddish in colour before reappearing a little over an hour later. The moon reappears dimly lit on the opposite side of the penumbra until 3 a.m. when the eclipse is over.
The moon’s reddish colours during the event are caused by longer wavelengths of sunlight making it through Earth’s atmosphere and hitting the moon’s surface and is the reason why lunar eclipses are sometimes called Blood Moons.
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The March full moon, also sometimes referred to as the Worm Moon, reaches peak illumination at 11:55 p.m. March 13. It gets its name from Native American tribes and refers to beetle larvae that emerge from tree bark at this time of year, according to The Old Farmer's Almanac.
The overnight forecast for the Okanagan on Thursday is partly cloudy, so viewers have a great chance to see at least some of the hour-long eclipse.
In Kamloops, 60 per cent chance of rain is in the overnight forecast, which could create a rare moonbow, or a rainbow around the moon that happens when moonlight is refracted through water droplets.
If you get photographs of the total solar eclipse you want to share, send them to news@infonews.ca.
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