- A lunar eclipse occurs when the Earth is between the full moon and the sun.
- The eclipse will begin when Earth’s shadow appears on the moon at 10:27 p.m. Sunday night.
- it is also the flower moon, a name given to May’s full moon because “flowers bloom in abundance in North America this month.”
Get ready for a show in the sky this weekend.
A “super flower blood moon” lunar eclipse will hit the night sky on Sunday. A lunar eclipse occurs when the Earth is between the full moon and the sun.
During the eclipse, the moon will only receive sunlight deflected through Earth’s atmosphere and will change color over the course of minutes, from gray to pink, orange to red.
Earth’s shadow covers the moon, which often has a red color, hence the nickname blood moon. Although it is completely in the shadow of Earth, some reddish sunlight still reaches the moon.
The eclipse will begin when Earth’s shadow appears on the moon at 10:27 p.m. EDT on Sunday night. Over the course of an hour, the shadow will slide across the moon, plunging the lunar surface into darkness.
Totality, or when the moon is completely in the shadow of the Earth, will occur from 11:29 p.m. on May 15 to 12:53 a.m. on May 16.
You don’t need special glasses or gadgets to see the show, unlike a solar eclipse, so feel free to look directly at the moon. Binoculars or a telescope will improve your view.
The eclipse will be visible in its total phase from parts of the Americas, Antarctica, Europe, Africa and the eastern Pacific, according to Space.com.
This will be the first of two lunar eclipses in 2022, Space.com said. The next one will take place on November 8, 2022.
What is a supermoon?
A supermoon means that the moon looks a bit larger than normal since it is a bit closer to Earth.
“Because the moon’s orbit is not a perfect circle, the moon is sometimes closer to Earth than at other times during its orbit,” according to NASA.
On average, supermoons appear 7% larger and 15% brighter than a typical full moon.
The Old Farmer’s Almanac reports that there will be four supermoons in 2022.
SHOOTING STARS!:How to see every meteor shower in 2022
It is also the ‘flower’ moon
Sunday’s sky show is also the “flower” moon, a name given to May’s full moon because “flowers bloom in abundance across North America this month,” the Old Farmer’s Almanac said.
The full moon names used by the Almanac come from various places, including Native American, Colonial American, and European sources. Traditionally, each full moon name was applied to the entire lunar month in which it occurred, not just the full moon.
Other names for the May full moon include the Corn Planting Moon and the Milk Moon, NASA said.
Contributor: Emily DeLetter, The Cincinnati Enquirer
