Well, this morning was a total lunar eclipse, AKA the much cooler name Blood Moon. Unfortunately, it was a very cloudy morning here in Yorkton, so I had to settle for watching it on a livestream. Looking at the messages in chat during the stream, it looks like I wasn’t alone in that (also a lot of people were trying to use the Moon to curse exes. Crazy.)
Now you’re probably wondering: why does a lunar eclipse turn the Moon red?
Well in the same way a solar eclipse is the Moon passing between the Earth and Sun, a lunar eclipse is when the Earth slides right between the Sun and the Moon, blocking the sunlight from hitting the Moon. Basically, the Earth’s shadow falls on the Moon, so the only light that hits it is filtered through our atmosphere and that turns it red! That red colour is why people call it a “blood moon.” Even better, unlike a solar eclipse, you can actually watch a lunar eclipse with your own eyes and no fancy gear needed! Unfortunately, the same rules apply as seeing a regular full moon though; you need an unobstructed view with no cloud cover. So hey, maybe next time we’ll actually be able to see it. BTW that next time (at least for a partial eclipse) is August 27-28, just a few weeks after a solar eclipse! Weather willing, August will be a pretty cool month to look up.
But hey, if you’re listening from somewhere that wasn’t overcast and you managed to get some pics, drop them in the comments below!
Comments