On Wednesday, May 26, there will be a total lunar eclipse (when the Moon goes into Earth’s shadow). Weather permitting, everyone on Earth’s dark (night) side will be able to see it. The eclipse will occur in the early morning, shortly *before* sunrise, as seen from the western continental United States, western Canada, southern Alaska, Mexico, and the southern part of South America. It will occur in the middle of the night as seen from Hawaii. [Across the Pacific Ocean, it will be visible on the evening of Wednesday, May 26, in New Zealand, Australia, Indonesia, Japan, eastern China, and eastern Russia.] See the excellent website for a detailed map and the ability to see whether the eclipse will be visible from a specific location.
Totality will last about 15 minutes, a relatively short total lunar eclipse. Unlike the case in a total solar eclipse, the lunar eclipse will occur at the same time (after adjusting for time zones) from any location where it is visible. No optical aid is needed — just use your eyes (though the view through binoculars should be interesting as well). A photo of a total lunar eclipse (January 20, 2019, taken by Richard Spence) is shown above, and you can find many more on the internet.
Here are the relevant times in California; adjust for your time zone if you will be away from Pacific Daylight Time (PDT). (For example, mid-eclipse will be at 1:19 am Hawaii Standard Time on Wednesday morning, May 26 — that’s late on Tuesday night, of course.)
Partial eclipse begins: 2:45 am PDT Wednesday, May 26
Total eclipse begins: 4:11 am PDT
Mid-eclipse: 4:19 am PDT
Total eclipse ends: 4:26 am PDT
Partial eclipse ends: 5:52 am PDT
“Prime time” (total eclipse) will be 4:11-4:26 am PDT. The Moon will be west, low over the horizon, shortly before it sets; try to avoid obstructions like mountains, buildings, and trees. The farther east you are in the continental United States, the closer to the horizon the Moon will be, and the closer to sunrise the eclipse will occur; Denver, for example, is near the eastern boundary, though at least a partial lunar eclipse will be visible throughout most of the continental United States. Viewed from southeast Asia, the Moon will appear low over the eastern horizon, shortly after it rises. Again, for more information see this website. Also, let me alert you to a handy astronomy/space calendar from the New York Times that you can download right to your Google or iOS calendars. Here’s the 2021 version!
Note that there will be a partial solar eclipse (“annular” in some small parts of the world, so the Sun will look like a ring) on June 10, visible over much of the continental United States. I’ll try to provide more information later, but you can find many details here.
Wishing you clear skies during the night of May 25/26,
Alex
P.S. If you were not able to see the lunar eclipse, or saw it but want to relive the experience, I encourage you to view the recording obtained at the Chabot Space and Science Center (in the hills of Oakland, CA). Be aware that the video is 4 hours long, and the first 15 minutes is just the “Starting Soon” slide. You don’t start noticing any significant change in the Moon’s appearance until about 45 minutes into the video. If you wish, you can fast-forward about 2 hours 50 minutes, to the time when totality was taking place (4:11-4:26 am PDT).
Alex Filippenko 