You can watch a lunar eclipse turn the Flower Moon red on May 15 or 16, depending on your location, and it’s even streamed online in case you can’t see it in person.
This will be the first of only two lunar eclipses in 2022, and the only one visible to people in North America this year, so make sure you don’t miss what happens when the new moon passes through Earth’s shadow. .
Depending on where you are, the eclipse can be total or penumbral; the latter occurs when only the edge of Earth’s shadow falls on the moon. At least part of the fully eclipsed moon phase will be visible from parts of the Americas, Antarctica, Europe, Africa and the Eastern Pacific, while those from New Zealand, the Eastern Europe and the Middle East will be treated at the penumbral eclipse.
The partial eclipse officially begins May 15 at 10:28 p.m. EDT (0228 GMT May 16), according to TimeandDate.com. The so-called blood moon (total phase) of the eclipse will peak at 12:11 a.m. EDT (0411 GMT), with the eclipse ending at 1:55 a.m. EDT (05:55 GMT). The penumbral eclipse will begin and end approximately one hour after the partial eclipse.
Lunar eclipses can be safely observed with the naked eye, binoculars or a telescope. Unlike solar eclipses, they tend to last for several hours, so you’ll have plenty of time to enjoy the spectacle. That said, if the weather is unpredictable or you can’t easily see the eclipse in your area, webcasts are available to help.
NASA Science Live is planning a YouTube broadcast beginning at 9:32 p.m. EDT May 15 (01:32 GMT May 16), which includes a live chat and discussion of the agency’s Artemis moon landing program for astronauts.
Further YouTube broadcasts are available with astronomy webcaster Slooh from 9:30 p.m. EDT (May 16 01:30 GMT) and with TimeandDate.com half an hour later from 10:00 p.m. EDT May 15 (02:00 GMT May 16 ). Slooh will stream the totality phase, before moving to a members-only Discord channel, while TimeandDate.com plans to show the entire eclipse, weather permitting.
The next and final lunar eclipse of 2022 will occur on November 8, 2022. It will be visible at least partially from Asia, Australia, North America, parts of northern and eastern Europe, the Arctic and most of South America.
Editor’s note: If you take a great lunar eclipse photo and want to share it with Live Science readers, send your photo(s), comments, and name and location to community@livescience.com.
Follow Elizabeth Howell on Twitter @howellspace.