During the dawn of Saturday, April 4th, a lunar eclipse will shine upon us from 3:16 am PDT and peaking at 4:58 PDT. Those in the Pacific region have better viewing versus those in the Atlantic, who will see little to nothing of the eclipse. But not to worry, another lunar eclipse is set for early September of this year.
A lunar eclipse is a result of the earth blocking sunlight that would normally reach the moons surface. Instead, the earth’s shadow casts upon the moon. The shadow has two parts, the umbra and the penumbra. An eclipse always begins as the moon enters the penumbra of the earths shadow. This is the least exciting part because there is still a lot of light from the sun shining off the earth’s atmosphere which casts upon the moon’s surface. The umbra, the darkest part of the shadow, is considered the “middle” of the lunar eclipse, or when the least amount of light is refracted off the earth’s atmosphere; the peak of the eclipse. The eclipse ends after the moon travels through the penumbra of the earth’s shadow again.
Some see this eclipse as a biblical sign for the coming of Jesus, as it occurs during the Easter Vigil and Passover. No matter what, it’s a gorgeous site to see!
Keep looking up!
– Julia
