How to Watch and Photograph the Total Lunar Eclipse on November 8
Aloha and welcome. You must be here because like most people, you waited until the last minute to do something. Or maybe you are just genuinely curious and had no idea there is a total lunar eclipse coming up. Whatever it is, welcome, and thanks for being here.
This guide is going to be a crash course on planning and viewing/shooting the total lunar eclipse in the early morning hours of November 8th. The moon will start to enter Earth’s shadow at 3:02 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time (12:02 a.m. PST). It will be the last total lunar eclipse until March 14, 2025. Let’s jump right into it!
What is a “Total” Lunar Eclipse
First, let’s define what a lunar eclipse is. When the Earth is positioned between the Sun and the Moon, the “shadow” of the Earth projects upon the Moon. The outer shadow is known as the penumbra and the inner shadow is known as the umbra. This alignment can vary ever so slightly as the Earth is much larger than the Moon, so three types of lunar eclipses can occur:
Penumbral: This is where the Earth’s penumbra essentially “dims” the Moon.
Partial: This is where the umbra starts to actually eclipse the Moon.
Total: This is where the umbra completely engulfs the Moon, causing the “Blood Moon” this is the one you want and the one we are going to get on Nov 7-8. Total eclipses incorporate the penumbral and partial phases as well. Read More...
