Total Lunar Eclipse Over Seattle Tonight...Not That You Can See It
A total lunar eclipse is scheduled to wow skywatchers tonight as the calendar flips to December 21, the winter solstice and technically the first day of winter.
"A lunar eclipse occurs when the moon passes behind Earth, into Earth's shadow. This type of eclipse occurs when the sun, Earth, and moon are aligned exactly, or very closely so, with Earth in the middle. Hence, there is always a full moon the night of a lunar eclipse."
The agency predicts a colorful appearance with shades of bright orange, blood red and maybe even gray. According to the Seattle PI:
"Unlike a total solar eclipse, when the sun is blotted out, a lunar eclipse rarely turns the moon totally black. Because of sunrises and sunsets that scatter and refract light from the sun around the world, the moon generally appears bright and coppery orange, or sometimes brown or dark red-black, depending on how much pollution is in the atmosphere."
And here in Seattle, what do you want to bet it will be too cloudy to see any of this?
Some are more optimistic than we are (hey, we learned our lesson with the northern lights and assorted meteor showers this year). Here's what KING 5 had to say about our chances:
KING 5 Meteorologist Rich Marriott says there will be some showers tonight, but the weather should be clear in between clouds in time for night show."I think we'll get breaks in the clouds. And it is visible for 3 1/2 hours - 72 minutes totally eclipsed!" said Marriott.
At 10:33 p.m. Pacific time, the moon will begin passing through the shadow. It should entirely enter the shadow, or umbra, at 11:41 pm. our time, and leave the shadow entirely by 12:52 a.m. The last time a lunar eclipse happened on the first day of winter was in 1638.
If your eclipse-watching plans get thwarted, NASA has some live chats and streaming footage planned. Check it out here.
