Community Corner

Total Lunar Eclipse Will Be Viewable to Locals After Midnight

The first total lunar eclipse simultaneously occurring with Winter Solstice since 1638 will happen late Dec. 20 and last until early morning Dec. 21.

Newtown Square–Just a few days before Christmas, the moon will give a special holiday gift–starting late in the evening Dec. 20 and into the morning hours of Dec. 21–for its total lunar eclipse.

According to NASA, local residents will be able to view the celestial show from 1:33 a.m. until 5:01 a.m. This will be the first total lunar eclipse since Feb. 20, 2008. Even more special, tonight's eclipse is the first total lunar eclipse that occurred simultaneously with Winter Solstice since 1638.

Thomas Lee Hench, an associate professor at Delaware County Community College, stated in an e-mail the eclipse will reach its fullness around 2:30 a.m locally.

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"While always interesting, this eclipse will be viewable in our area and at totality the moon will be bathed in ruddy light," wrote Hench, who teaches astronomy as well as technical and university physics at the college.

The vivid eclipse occurs when the moon passes through the Earth's shadow, and the moon's appearance changes from bright orange to blood red to dark brown and possibly even gray. 

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"What's interesting," said Suzanne Mecouch, Marple Newtown school district's science supervisor, "is that you'll be able to see this shadow that covers the moon less and less."

Mecouch said the eclipse is "definitely worth watching," and plans to view the show early tomorrow morning as well.

One of her memorable viewings of a lunar eclipse occurred approximately 15 summers ago on a family vacation down the shore in Cape May, NJ.

"It was around 9 p.m. and my kids and I were on the boardwalk and saw the eclipse happen over the ocean," recalled Mecouch. "I was moving my kids around on the boardwalk, showing them different angles of the moon and pretty soon there was a crowd of people just standing there with us. It was incredible."

Unlike solar eclipses, no sunglasses or protection is needed to view the eclipse. And unlike meteor showers, light pollution will not affect the visibility of the eclipse. 

Mecouch recommended to simply go outside to your yard and look up. "You can't miss it," said Mecouch. "It's going to be striking."

If you can't bear the cold, a live video feed of the total eclipse will be available on NASA's chat site.


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