The year’s first total eclipse of the moon happens this week, Thursday, June 16, early morning, around 3:22am.
The good news is we will have a front seat view of this lunar spectacle because it will be visible from eastern Africa, central Asia, the Middle East and Western Australia (of course, if the weather permits it).
If you’re confused and can’t tell the difference between a solar and lunar eclipse, a quick answer to this is “a solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between the Earth and the Sun” while “a lunar eclipse occurs when the Earth passes between the Sun and the Moon.”
Unlike solar eclipses, lunar eclipses occur more often and it’s not always a total lunar eclipse. There can be a partial lunar eclipse or a penumbral lunar eclipse.
Another cool thing about this upcoming eclipse is that the period the Earth’s shadow completely blocks the moon (referred to as “totality”) will last for 1 hour and 40 minutes. According to the news article, the last time the moon was covered that long was July 2000 when it lasted 7 minutes longer.
If you plan to wake up really early to watch the lunar eclipse, I suggest you take photos and share it on Flickr. Because that’s how I plan to “watch” the eclipse, by viewing photos shared on Flickr.
Thanks everyone!
