Partial lunar eclipse to appear Thursday night. How to see it in Northern California
A partial lunar eclipse will be gracing our skies on Thursday, Aug. 27.
As the sun sinks in the west on Thursday night, the moon will already be moving into the umbra (the main shadow of the Earth) as it rises in the east.
For a lunar eclipse to occur, the sun and the moon must be opposite each other with the Earth in between casting its shadow on the moon. As the moon enters this shadow, it turns a yellowish-orange color, the result of the filtered sunlight produced by the Earth’s atmosphere, which is then reflected by the moon.
Think of it as the reddish glow from all of the sunrises and sunsets of the Earth being thrown onto the surface of the moon at once.
The moon will not be fully engulfed by the Earth’s shadow with 96% of the moon’s surface being covered. That means there will remain a bright sliver of silvery moon when the eclipse reaches its maximum at 9:12 p.m.
The moon will be out of the umbra by 10:51 p.m., allowing for an early bedtime as far as celestial events go. The only other factor to be aware of is the weather; the forecast does include increasing clouds Thursday night, so get out there early.
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