Lunar Eclipse 2021 – live: ‘Longest eclipse in 580 years’ coinciding with ‘blood’ Beaver Moon begins
Follow the spectacle live
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Your support makes all the difference.The Moon is about to fall into the Earth’s shadow for the longest duration since the 15th Century, offering stargazers a unique opportunity to observe a lunar eclipse.
The celestial spectacle coincides with the Full Moon, traditionally known as the Beaver Moon by Native American tribes, and will be visible across large parts of the globe, including North America and partially in the UK.
The near-total eclipse will peak for 3 hours and 28 minutes on the night of the 18-19 November, beginning at 9.02am GMT.
The full passing of the Full Moon – which itself peaks at 8.57am GMT – through Earth’s shadow will last more than six hours.
The whole event will be visible across the US but the arrival of the Sun on Friday morning will prevent people in the UK from seeing the latter half of it.
You can follow all the latest Moon action right here.
Five minute warning
There’s five minutes until the peak arrives, which happens at 9.03 UTC, or UK time. (That’s 4.03am eastern time.)
Some frustration over clouds
As ever, some people have found themselves stuck behind clouds without the ability to see the Moon.
But for the most part the weather seems to have behaved itself. Here’s the cloud map for the US, from Accuweather:
And here’s the UK, from the Met Office, which looks a lot worse:
Moon turns red
It’s looking very red (and also very dark and pixellated, sadly) on the Griffith Observatory’s live feed.
Red colour becomes visible
More than 95 per cent of the Moon has now moved into the umbra. So from now the red colour should be visible on the Moon.
It might be easier to see the redness through binoculars or a telescope. You can also use a camera to take long exposure photos, which will help bring out the colour.
If you’re waiting, have a look around the Moon
There’s about 10 minutes left until the redness begins. But if you’re waiting around you could have a look around the sides of the Moon: during the eclipse, it will be moving through the constellation Taurus. Nasa says to keep an eye out for the Pleiades star cluster at the top right, or the Hyades cluster – which has the bright star Aldebaran, or the eye of the bull, in it – in the lower left.
Follow Moon’s trajectory through Earth’s shadow
At about 3:45 AM ET, the Moon is expected to begin appearing red, as over 95 per cent of the Moon’s disk would be in the Earth’s inner shadow.
The peak of the eclipse is expected at 4:03 AM ET.
The Moon’s redness is expected to begin fading at about 4:20 AM ET.
Follow the trajectory of the Moon through Earth’s shadow here.
Partial lunar eclipse watch live
The Moon has begun to enter the Earth’s umbra – the inner part of the Earth’s shadow – and the partial eclipse has begun.
This would begin to look like a bite is being taken out of the lunar disk, and a portion of the Moon inside the umbra has started appearing very dark.
You can watch the eclipse live on Griffith Observatory’s channel
The peak of the eclipse would begin around 3:45 AM ET till about 4:20 AM ET, according to Nasa.
What astronomers on the moon would hypothetically see during a lunar eclipse
On 19 November, Earth would pass between the Sun and the Moon and cause a near-total lunar eclipse. About 99.1% of the moon will pass into the inner part of the Earth’s shadow – the umbra.
This would be the longest partial lunar eclipse in 580 years.
Previous simulations by Nasa have revealed how astronomers on the moon would hypothetically view the occurrence of a total lunar eclipse.
Since during a lunar eclipse the Earth filters the Sun’s light onto the Moon, our planet is essentially projecting thousands of sunrises and sunsets onto the lunar surface.
Since lunar eclipses substantially cool down the Moon, studying these changes can help scientists develop better equipment for future missions and experiments that can better survive extreme changes in temperatures.
Nasa is planning to send astronauts to the Moon in 2025 at the earliest as part of the Artemis mission, and there are two lunar eclipses predicted for the year.
What scientists have learned from lunar eclipses
The lunar eclipse is one of the many light-and-shadow tricks in the solar system that has helped guide humanity’s understanding of the cosmos for several millennia.
Aristotle was one of the first to argue that the Earth was spherical based on the observation that the shadow of the Earth falling on the moon is always circular in shape.
Greek astronomer and mathematician Hipparchus of Nicaea discovered that the positions of constellations in the night sky changed in a 26,000-year cycle, by studying eclipses.
Records kept of ancient solar and lunar eclipses – from the time when such notes were made in clay tablets – have more recently enabled modern astronomers to discover that the speed at which Earth spins on its axis has slowed by 1.8 milliseconds per day over the course of a century.
Lunar eclipses also offer scientists the opportunity to study what happens when the surface of the moon is devoid of sunlight and cools quickly.
Instruments aboard Nasa’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) can record how quickly specific areas on the moon cool off during an eclipse. Since the drop in temperature is dependent on several factors such as how rocky the lunar surface is, how densely packed the soil is and its mineral composition, this kind of analysis during a lunar eclipse sheds more light on the moon’s regolith.
Best time to take photographs
Since the moon is in its apogee, it would appear small, but during the peak of the eclipse it would turn red.
This would be around 4:03 AM ET, which is the best time to see the red colour.
However, the Moon may begin to appear red even a few minutes earlier – starting from about 3:45 AM ET – when more than 95 per cent of the Moon’s disk would be in the Earth’s inner shadow.
The red colour might be easier to see in binoculars or a telescope than with the naked eye.
Using a camera on a tripod with exposures of several seconds can bring out the colour, says Nasa in its lunar photography guide.
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