Get Set to View Tonight’s Total Lunar Eclipse
November’s “Beaver Moon” begins around 10 p.m. HST Monday, with maximum viewing at 12:59 a.m. Tuesday.
Photo: Getty Images
If you plan to see the last total eclipse, also known as the “Blood Moon” or specifically the “Beaver Moon,” it may cost you a little sleep on Nov. 7. The moon will begin to move into the Earth’s shadow just after 10 p.m. HST; at 12:16 a.m. it’ll pass into the center of the shadow and begin turning red until 1:41 a.m. The maximum viewing time is 12:59 a.m. Tuesday. Everything will be back to normal by 4 a.m. (except your sleep schedule). There will be another reason to look up Nov. 17–18: The Leonid Meteor Shower peaks that night, with up to 20 meteors an hour between midnight and dawn.
A blood moon happens when Earth’s moon is in a total lunar eclipse. While it has no special astronomical significance, the view in the sky is striking as the usually whitish moon becomes red or ruddy brown. November’s eclipse is worth catching because the next total lunar eclipse will not occur until 2025.
To catch it online, visit virtualtelescope.eu, which is deeming its virtual showing as a live international event.
