This coming Tuesday, people across the Valley will have the opportunity to witness an astronomical event that won’t occur here for another three and a half years.

That event is a lunar eclipse- a stunning transition turning the moon an earthy shade of red for an extended period of time.

Lunar eclipses are one of three types of eclipses that occur due to the relationship and orbits between the Earth, the Moon, and the Sun.

The most well-known and dramatic is a total solar eclipse, like the one that happened across the Valley just shy of two years ago. These occur when the Moon is perfectly aligned with the Sun and appears large enough in the sky to cover it completely. The shadow produced by the Moon is called a penumbra, though if it gets to Earth without light infiltrating, that is, a full shadow, we call this an umbra.

If the Moon only covers part of the Sun, the event is called a partial solar eclipse. Even during a total solar eclipse, people outside the narrow path of totality will see only a partial eclipse.

Annular solar eclipses occur if the Moon, still completely covering the Sun, looks smaller from Earth than the Sun. Typically, the Moon does appear smaller than the Sun from Earth, leading to this form of solar eclipse being more common. If in the right spot, the Moon will pass over the Sun, leading to just the small, outer ring, or annulus, forming.

 

 

In this case, Earth is now the body casting the shadow. This causes a lunar eclipse. The moon will darken as it crosses into the penumbra, almost turning a shade of yellow. As the moon goes further and further into the penumbra, more blue light from the Sun gets scattered, causing the moon to turn into a warmer color. The lunar eclipse reaches totality when the Moon, from a vantage point on Earth, reaches the umbra. At this point, only red light remains, and the Moon will turn into its rare earthy shade. 

 

 

Unlike solar eclipses, totality lasts much longer. While solar eclipse viewers get to experience around 5 minutes of totality, this phenomenon during a lunar eclipse can last up to around an hour and a half. In this particular event here in Youngstown, totality will last 59 minutes.

You won’t get to see totality for that long, however. The Valley is on the fringe of the eclipse area, meaning that a setting moon will cut viewing duration early.

 

 

The penumbra will start to touch the Moon’s face at 3:44 am, while the Moon is still high in the sky. About an hour later, at 4:49 am, the moon will begin to turn red as the partial eclipse begins. As the transition occurs, the moon will continue to set and get quite low on the horizon. Totality will begin at 6:03 am, though with the moon just 8.8 degrees above the due west horizon. The moon will reach its deepest red 30 minutes later, 3.5 degrees above the horizon.

 

 

After this point, a setting moon plus peeks of daylight will make viewing conditions rather tough. The moon will completely set at 6:55 am, seven minutes before totality ends. Because the moon is below the horizon, you will not be able to see the lunar eclipse after this time.

Of course, the biggest factor in all of this is whether the Valley will be able to even see it with cloud cover around. For now, there is a chance for rain on Tuesday, with clouds increasing late overnight.