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About the Upcoming Total Lunar Eclipse
A blood moon on US midterm election day
Nov 8, 2022, is special, not only it is the midterm election day in the US, but also the day for the last TOTAL lunar eclipse to watch for about three years! If you miss this one, the next will be on Mar 14, 2025.
The moon is expected to enter the Earth’s umbra at about 9:09 UTC Nov 8, which is 4:09 am EST Nov 8. Totality should start at about 10:17 UTC, which is 5:17 am EST.
To check the visibility of the eclipse in your local area, I recommend using a website/app like timeanddate.com where you can input your city name and dig up all local info needed, including:
- sunrise/sunset times
- partial/total eclipse start time
- maximum eclipse time
- partial/total eclipse end time
The duration of the eclipse is about four hours.
There is no direct sunlight traveling from the Sun to the moon during a total lunar eclipse, only scattered ones. Due to the difference in wavelengths, lights of different colors are scattered differently by the Earth’s atmosphere, indirectly resulting in a blood-red color during a total lunar eclipse.
I think the coincidence of having a lunar eclipse and an election day is rare. Your children have no school on election day meaning they can get up a bit early and watch with you! You can tell them if this kind of coincidence happened in ancient times, it would have triggered great fears and anxiety. Thanks to modern science, now we can just sit back and appreciate the wonders of a blood moon.
