Look to the sky’s early morning on Wednesday, October 8, 2014 for a rare lunar event! We are in store for a total lunar eclipse. The last one we had before 2014 was dated back to December 2011. The total lunar eclipse that is taking place early morning on October 8, 2014 is the second of two total lunar eclipses in 2014, and the second in a tetrad (four total lunar eclipses in series). Other eclipses in the tetrad are those of April 15, 2014, April 4, 2015, and September 28, 2015.
Not only are we going to be able to experience a total lunar eclipse, but it is said that the moon will glow a reddish hue, which is were the name “blood moon” comes from. The moon will be turning this red color because of sunlight that is scattered throughout the earth’s atmosphere.
If you are in for cloudy skies this evening, don’t worry, you can watch the lunar event live online. Just follow this link to the The Slooh Community Observatory and NASA: http://live.slooh.com/stadium/live/slooh-covers-the-total-lunar-eclipse-of-october-2014-as-it-slides-across-the-pacific-ocean
Here are a list of times to start watching!
Wednesday’s eclipse times:
Partial eclipse begins: 4:15 a.m. CDT
Total eclipse begins: 5:25 a.m. CDT
Moment of full moon: 5:51 a.m. CDT
Greatest eclipse: 5:55 a.m. CDT
Total eclipse ends: 6:24 a.m. CDT
Moonset: 6:45-7 a.m. CDT in Alabama
Partial eclipse ends: 7:34 a.m. CDT
Eastern times are one hour later, so be on the lookout starting around 5am if you are on the east coast!