It is going to be an interesting few days next week. As reported earlier, we will have a King Tide on January 21 through January 23. During that time, high tide is predicted to be as high as 6.59 feet. To read that post, click here.
We will also have a Full Wolf Moon at 12:17 am on January 21. Judy Morr will be writing a post abot this interesting phenomenon as well as details of the Full Moon Bonfire.
This year, we’ll also be treated to a Total Lunar Eclipse during the evening of January 21 into the early morning of January 22. A very interesting article from the Jet Propulsion Lab of the California Institute of Technolgy describes the event as well as provides YouTube videos.
To summarize, a Total Lunar Eclipse happens when the Sun, Earth, and Moon are lined up. This occurs only during a full moon, such as we are having next week. The Sun and Moon will be on opposite sides of the Earth and when the Moon moves into the shadow of the Earth, a lunar eclipse occurs.
You will not need special glasses to see the eclipse and the whole event will take about an hour. It will start around 9:36 pm EST on January 20 and the umbra (the fully-shaded inner region of the shadow) will be around 12:12 am EST on January 21. This is where the Blood Moon that Judy Morr will describe comes in. As the Moon moves totally into the umbra, it becomes reddish-orange.
To read more about the Total Lunar Eclipse as well as why the moon turns reddish-orange, click here.
–Tidelines Editors
(Photo credit: Jet Propulsion Lab)