On the night of Sunday, May 15 and Monday, May 16, North America will witness a total lunar eclipse. This amazing celestial lineup of the Sun, Earth, and the moon will play out with eastern and central time zones seeing the entire event. Mountain and Pacific zones will witness the eclipse in progress as the moon rises.
This is a very safe event as the full Flower moon moves into the earth’s shadow for almost three and a half hours. Eclipse times are:
Eastern Time
Partial umbral eclipse begins: 10:27 p.m. Moon enters the earth’s shadow.
Total lunar eclipse begins: 11:29 p.m. Moon turns dark orange or red.
Greatest eclipse: 12:11 a.m. Mid-point of the eclipse.
Total lunar eclipse ends: 12:53 a.m. Moon begins to leave the shadow.
Partial umbral eclipse ends: 1:55 a.m. Moon completely exits earth’s shadow.
Known as “The Backyard Astronomer”, Gary Boyle is an astronomy educator, guest speaker, and monthly columnist for the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada. He has been interviewed on more than 55 Canadian radio stations as well as television across Canada and the U.S. WTCA will talk with Gary on Friday’s What’s Your Opinion Show at about 10:10 a.m.
Follow Gary Boyle on Twitter: @astroeducator, Facebook, and his website: www.wondersofastronomy.com
