Lunar Eclipse Will Be Longest In 500+ Years: How To Watch In PA

Norristown PA

18 November, 2021

5:41 PM

Description

PENNSYLVANIA — The longest partial lunar eclipse of the 21st century will take place in the late night and early morning hours Thursday into Friday in Pennsylvania, as the frost moon turns blood red. Visibility may be difficult in some parts of the state, particularly in the southeastern region and Philadelphia suburbs, as rain and clouds are threatening overnight. The rare event will last 3 hours, 28 minutes, and 23 seconds, according to NASA, which is a longer duration than any similar eclipse for hundreds of years. Not since 1440 has this sort of eclipse lasted so long, and it's not predicted to happen again until 2669, NASA says. The eclipse will likely begin on the East Coast and in Pennsylvania at around 1 a.m., with peak viewing happening at around 4 a.m. While rain and clouds are expected to persist through the evening and after midnight into early Friday, there's a chance that things could clear up in eastern Pennsylvania right around the peak viewing hour of 4 a.m. According to AccuWeather, skies will shift from partly cloudy to mostly clear between 3 a.m. and 4 a.m., and after 4 a.m., the forecast is clear skies. You don't need any special equipment to see it. All you need to do is walk outside and look up. If it does remain cloudy or inconvenient to stay up and watch the eclipse, you can watch a livestream. A partial lunar eclipse occurs when the moon passes through Earth's partial shadow, or penumbra, and only a portion of it passes through the darkest shadow, or umbra. A total or nearly total lunar eclipse often is called a "blood moon" for this reason. The November full moon, with or without an eclipse, is also called the full frost moon, sometimes called a full beaver or dark moon. All were terms used by Native American tribes, who gave distinctive names to the moons to mark the season. The frost moon is the last full moon of autumn.