ORLANDO, Fla. – While Friday’s lunar eclipse will technically be partial, it will look a lot like a total lunar eclipse. Only a sliver of the moon will escape Earth’s shadow.
A lunar eclipse occurs when the moon moves into Earth’s shadow. During a total lunar eclipse, the moon appears to turn “blood red” as it gets deeper into the shadow. This happens when sunlight passes through particles in Earth’s atmosphere and become scattered, which is also what gives sunsets their color.
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Because red and and orange have longer-than-average wavelengths on the color spectrum, they tend to pass through the atmosphere rather than scatter away. That color is then refracted onto the moon’s surface.
More than 90% of the moon will be covered by Earth’s shadow, giving this an appearance of a total lunar eclipse.
To see Friday’s eclipse, you will either have to stay up very late or get up early. The partial eclipse will begin at 2:17 a.m. as the moon moves into Earth’s umbra, the darkest part of its shadow.
Here’s how to see it:
When: Friday Nov 19
Start: 2:17 a.m.
Max Eclipse (partial): 4:06 a.m.
End: 5:50 a.m.
Unlike solar eclipses, lunar eclipses do not require special glasses to view.
This is the second partial eclipse of the year, with the last having happened in May.
The next total lunar eclipse visible in Florida doesn’t come around until May of 2022. That eclipse reaches totality at 11:32 p.m. and remains in totality until just before 1 a.m.