Catch the next lunar eclipse coming up on Tuesday (at 17.59 GMT) when the sun, Earth and the moon are lined up
Most views of the moon have to deal with the idea of its bright, moonlit face peering out into the sky from behind Earth’s shadow. That image is true enough. But a true Earthrise view is usually regarded as less that spectacular – an optical illusion, according to the solar eclipse theories of the 19th century, that obscures the bright illumination of the sun when the Earth crosses in front of the moon.
This can all change tonight. The planet Jupiter, in its most brilliant light, will provide the most vivid object in the sky in the west-southwest around sunset, but even then, the lunar eclipse visible across the US and Canada will offer a view of moons without shadows.
The lunar eclipse tonight is the longest since 1542, lasting for a maximum of 108 minutes from 13.47 UTC to 17.59 UTC (17.30 GMT to 18.58 GMT in the UK). A partial eclipse earlier in the week (around 13.50 UTC) only stretched the duration for about 40 minutes.
That sets it apart from some of the longer eclipses of recent times, even though it is not as extensive as the partial lunar eclipse in 1566 or the total lunar eclipse in 1997. The next time that we will be able to see something like this – during a total lunar eclipse – is likely to be in 2033.
We may not have to wait that long to see another eclipse of this type – the lunar eclipse next Saturday, 17 March, will be not quite as long as next week’s lunar eclipse but it should be a total lunar eclipse, ending some time around 18.02 UTC (18.02 GMT to 18.39 GMT in the UK).