Two weeks after a total solar eclipse that missed most of the Western Hemisphere, the Americas \u2014 and Chicago \u2014 can get in on some of the action Thursday night.<\/p>\n
While it won\u2019t be a total eclipse, it is considered a \u201cdeep\u201d partial eclipse, with Earth\u2019s shadow covering up to 96.3% of the moon\u2019s area as the celestial satellite passes between the planet and the sun, according to NASA<\/a>.<\/p>\n During a lunar eclipse, the moon appears red or orange \u2014 hence the name \u201cBlood Moon\u201d \u2014 as sunlight that Earth doesn\u2019t block filters through its atmosphere on its way to the lunar surface. Blue light scatters easily, while reddish light travels farther, \u201cas if all the world\u2019s sunrises and sunsets are projected onto the Moon,\u201d NASA<\/a> explains.<\/p>\n From Chicago, the partial eclipse will be visible beginning Thursday at 9:33 p.m., according to the Adler Planetarium<\/a>. At this time, Earth\u2019s shadow will appear to take an increasingly large bite out of the full moon, NASA scientists say<\/a>. Native American tribes dubbed the August full moon \u201cSturgeon Moon\u201d<\/a> after the large fish from the Great Lakes and Lake Champlain that was caught this time of year.<\/p>\n From Chicago, viewers should face south-southeast, about a third of the way up from the horizon, to see the lunar eclipse Thursday night.<\/p>\n The eclipse will peak \u2014 or reach maximum coverage \u2014 at 11:13 p.m. The part of the moon still reached by sunlight will be small enough for observers to see as the rest of it takes on a copper color under the Earth\u2019s shadow. The show will end right before 1 a.m. Friday.<\/p>\n Between 10 p.m. Thursday and 1 a.m. Friday, about 25% of skies above the Chicago area will have clouds, according to a National Weather Service forecast<\/a>. This should allow for prime viewing.<\/p>\n This event is happening soon after the total solar eclipse on Aug. 12 because solar and lunar eclipses always occur about two weeks apart. This is because solar eclipses can only happen during a new moon, and lunar eclipses during a full moon, as the Earth, moon and sun line up.<\/p>\n But eclipses don\u2019t happen every month, even as lunar phases come and go, because the moon orbits Earth on a tilted path, meaning new moons pass slightly above or below the sun from Earth\u2019s point of view, and most full moons pass above or below Earth\u2019s shadow, according to NASA<\/a>.<\/p>\n