On the night of May 15-16, the attention of millions of people will be drawn to the sky, where a colorful, copper globe – the moon – will be completely immersed in the long, pointed cone of shadow cast into space by our planet. If the weather is clear, observers of the sky in most of America, Europe and Africa will have a view of one of nature’s most beautiful spectacles: a total lunar eclipse.
Unlike a total solar eclipse, which often requires a long journey to the aggregate path, lunar eclipses can usually be observed from your own backyard. The passage of the full moon through the earth’s shadow is equally visible from all places in the hemisphere where the moon is above the horizon. The full phase of the upcoming total lunar eclipse in May 2022 will be visible in much of North America, all of South America, Central and Western Europe and much of Africa (except the far east), which will give it a potential spectator an audience of 2.7 billion people!
It is easy to see this heavenly spectacle. Unlike a solar eclipse, which requires special precautions when viewing to prevent eye damage, a lunar eclipse is completely safe to watch. All you need are your eyes, but binoculars or a telescope will give you a much better view.
Related: How to watch the total lunar eclipse in May 2022 online
Shadow game
The eclipse begins when the moon enters the penumbra, or faint outer part of the earth’s shadow, about an hour before it begins to move in the gloom, the dark inner shadow of the earth. However, the penumbra is almost invisible to the eye until the moon sinks deep into it. Sharp-eyed viewers may first see the half-moon as a slight “spot” on the left side of the lunar disk at or around 10:10 p.m. EDT on May 15 (2:10 a.m. GMT on May 16) while the moon is above the horizon .
The most noticeable part of this eclipse will come when the moon begins to enter the darkness. A small rock of darkness will begin to appear at the lower left end of the moon at 22:28 EDT on May 15 (02:28 GMT on May 16).
It is expected that the Moon will need 3 hours, 27 minutes and 58 seconds to pass completely through the dungeon.
The show is already underway at sunrise
NASA Vision Map of the Total Lunar Eclipse May 15, 2022 (Image Credit: NASA Science Visualization Studio)
While viewers in most of the eastern and central United States and Canada will be able to see the moon enter the timbre, those in western North America, to the left of the line passing approximately from San Diego; to Salt Lake City; to Billings, Montana, to Pass, Manitoba, you will see the moon rise in eclipse.
In the table below, information on eight North American cities gives the time of the local moonrise and the percentage of the moon’s diameter that was already submerged in the earth’s darkness at that time.
Percentage of the diameter of the moon eclipsed at local moonrise, Sunday, May 15, 2022 pm Washington: 20 pm PDT87% Great Falls, Montana20: 47 pm MDT32% Boise, Idaho8: 55 pm MDT46% Calgary, Alberta9: 12 pm MDT74%
It should create an interesting scene to see the moon rise above the east-southeast horizon, already partially immersed in the Earth’s dark shadow. If there are local landmarks in the foreground, this can make a spectacular photo.
Connected: How to shoot a lunar eclipse
Totality arrives
For places where the moon remains above the horizon all the time, the total eclipse phase will last 85.5 minutes, starting around 11:28 pm EDT on May 15 (03:28 GMT on May 16). All the while, although the moon will be completely immersed in the earth’s shadow, it will probably not disappear from view. Rather, the moon will look like copper red, an effect caused by the bending of the Earth’s atmosphere or the refraction of sunlight in the shadows. Because the Earth’s blunt shadow is cone-shaped and extends into space about 864,000 miles (1.39 million kilometers), sunlight will be strained through something like a “double sunset” all around the edge of the Earth, in its shadow and then to the moon.
At a distance of 225,000 miles (362,100 km) from the Earth’s moon, the diameter of the Earth’s surface is 5,800 miles (9,300 km), or 2.7 times the diameter of the Moon. So there will be no problem with the moon being completely immersed in the dungeon.
At the moment in the middle of the totality (04:12 GMT, or 00:12 EDT), the moon will be just above the head of Sucre, Bolivia. According to EclipseWise, the moon will move through the southern part of the tone, so in the middle of the set the upper half of the moon will look the darkest – perhaps deep reddish-brown or chocolate – while the southern half will look brighter than red or even copper orange. But what exactly the moon will look like will depend on the clarity of the Earth’s atmosphere during an eclipse.
Interestingly, for places west or to the left of a line passing near Lincoln City, Oregon, to Edmonton, Alberta, the moon will appear to rise in total eclipse. Due to the low altitude and the bright evening twilight, observers in these places may not see much of the moon at all until the twilight sky darkens enough or, if the sky is unusually foggy, it begins to emerge from the Earth’s shadow. Similarly, from Hawaii and southeastern Alaska, the aggregate will end or have already ended at sunrise, so the main show may be the appearance of the moon from the shadow of the canopy as it rises in the southeast sky.
Conversely, the moon will set in total eclipse in parts of East Central Africa and West Central Europe. Due to the low altitude and the bright morning twilight, observers in these places may not see much of the moon at all once it has completely slipped into the shadow of the Earth.
The end. . . and upcoming attractions
The moon will emerge entirely from the earth’s surface around 1:55 a.m. EDT (0555 GMT), and the latest evidence of penumbra should disappear at or around 2:12 p.m. EDT (6:12 GMT).
The last total lunar eclipse occurred on May 26, 2021 with a very short (less than 16 minutes) aggregate, visible mainly from Central and Western North America. The last widely observed lunar eclipse, visible from North and South America, called the lunar eclipse of the Super Blood Wolf, occurred on January 20-21, 2019.
If the turbulent weather blocks your view of the impending eclipse, there is at least some consolation in knowing that another total lunar eclipse will be widely visible over most of North and South America in the early morning hours of November 8th.
Editor’s note: If you take an amazing photo of a lunar eclipse and want to share it with Space.com readers, send your photos, comments, and your name and location to spacephotos@space.com.
Joe Rao serves as an instructor and guest lecturer at the Hayden Planetarium in New York. He has written on astronomy for Natural History magazine, the Farmer’s Almanac and other publications. Follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom and Facebook.
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