The largest celestial event of 2021 provided stargazers a chance to see the only total lunar eclipse of the year early Wednesday. Dubbed the “Super Flower Blood Moon,” gazers could see it from parts of the western United States all the way to Australia.
The eclipse was visible from western locations of the Americas, islands of the Pacific Ocean, all of Australia, and portions of eastern Asia. Observers in Australia, New Zealand, Hawaii, and Papua New Guinea reportedly had the best vantage point.
In the most prime locations, viewers could witness the five-hour event in which the moon entered and exited the penumbra and umbra phases, which are the beginning and end of the partial and total lunar eclipse, respectively.
TOPSHOT-US-ASTRONOMY-MOONThe penumbra phase marks when the Earth’s shadow blocks sunlight imperfectly, resulting in a moon that is still visible but slightly dimmed. The shorter umbra phase happens when the moon enters the Earth’s total shadow. The total eclipse occurs during the middle of the three-hour shadow passage.
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Spectators in the best vantage points reported the total eclipse lasted around 16 minutes, showing the moon turning dark and bloody red, which is an effect caused by the Earth’s atmosphere, according to Space.com.
Although the moon was visible in parts of the U.S. around 4:47 EST, some spectators from Los Angeles, Chicago, and Seattle said cloud coverage hampered their visibility.
Because the eclipse was not visible for parts of the Midwest until sunrise, astronomers predicted it would be closer to a partial eclipse in some parts of the U.S., the Chicago Tribune reported.
Still, viewers could observe the partial eclipse in most of the U.S. if they awoke early enough. Some spectators in Florida captured a view of the partial eclipse at Ormond Beach, and others could even see the moon sneaking beyond the horizon in New York City.
Earth will have another lunar eclipse on Nov. 18, but Space.com reports the event will be somewhat imperfect due to a small portion of the moon’s disk remaining outside the umbra.
The next total lunar eclipse will occur on May 15-16, 2022, and will be observable from western parts of Europe and Africa, as well as most of the Americas.
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A solar eclipse is set to occur on June 10 and will be visible in portions of northern Greenland, parts of nearby Baffin Bay, eastern Hudson Bay, and northeastern Russia. The moon will pass in front of the sun but will be too close to Earth to black it out completely, causing a thin ring of the sun to shine around the moon.
