THUNDER BAY — A total lunar eclipse will turn the full moon blood red across Northwestern Ontario on Friday.
The lunar phenomenon, known as the blood worm moon, is expected to last 65 minutes.
During this time, the eclipse will darken the night sky and, if there are no clouds, reveal stars usually washed out by moonlight.
Brendon Roy, a member and first vice president of the Thunder Bay Centre of the Royal Astronomical Society, said the moon will be passing into the Earth’s shadow in the early hours of Friday morning.
“So, from the vantage point of the moon, the moon is going to see the Earth pass in front of the sun and for the people here in North America, we are going to see the Earth’s shadow fall across the face of the moon,” said Roy.
Depending upon what’s in the air during Thursday night leading into Friday morning, he said the moon will change colour into a red, which can move away from a nice bright red to a dark copper red colour.
As a full moon, he explained, the moon will rise close to sunset for everyone on Thursday evening, but the show doesn’t really get started until after 1 a.m. ET in the morning.
“The first signs of the shadow you won’t see until just after 1 o’clock local time here in Thunder Bay and the peak eclipse, the best part of the eclipse, will happen at about 3 o’clock in the morning. And then that process reverses towards the early hours," said Roy.
He added that either those looking to watch it will have to stay up late to see it or be an early riser this time around.
“If someone wants to go out, a good pair of binoculars will be awesome to help,” said Roy.
“So not only is the moon full, but it’s going to be in a part of the sky where there’s a bunch of bright planets as well. So, both Mars and Jupiter will be really bright in that same part of the sky. So, while you’re looking at the eclipse, you can take a tour of some of the brighter planets that are visible in the evening as well.”
However, Roy said the most important thing is to dress for it, so that observers are comfortable and do not get frostbite or anything similar in case the temperatures drop.
“It doesn’t happen very often. So, if you get the opportunity to see it Friday night, who knows when the next time you’re going to be able to see it because of the weather and other events,” said Roy.
“So, when these opportunities do come around, it’s always nice to watch a celestial event like this and know what’s going on in the sky.”
