Lunar Eclipse Background: A lunar eclipse is an astronomical event that occurs when the Moon moves into the Earth's shadow, causing the Moon to be darkened.
Such alignment occurs during an eclipse season, approximately every six months, during the full moon phase, when the Moon's orbital plane is closest to the plane of the Earth's orbit.
This can occur only when the Sun, Earth, and Moon are exactly or very closely aligned (in syzygy) with Earth between the other two, which can happen only on the night of a full moon when the Moon is near either lunar node.
The type and length of a lunar eclipse depend on the Moon's proximity to the lunar node.
When the Moon is totally eclipsed by the Earth, it takes on a reddish color that is caused by the planet when it completely blocks direct sunlight from reaching the Moon's surface, as only the light reflected from the lunar surface has been refracted by the Earth's atmosphere.
This light appears reddish due to the Rayleigh scattering of blue light, the same reason sunrises and sunsets are more orange than during the day.
Unlike a solar eclipse, which can only be viewed from a relatively small area of the world, a lunar eclipse may be viewed from anywhere on the night side of Earth.
A total lunar eclipse can last up to nearly two hours, while a total solar eclipse lasts only a few minutes at any given place, because the Moon's shadow is smaller. Also, unlike solar eclipses, lunar eclipses are safe to view without any eye protection or special precautions.
Description: A total lunar eclipse occurred on Tuesday, 8 November 2022.
The southern limb of the Moon passed through the center of the Earth's shadow.
It surpassed the previous eclipse as the longest total lunar eclipse visible from nearly all of North America since 17 August 1989, and until 26 June 2029.
Occurring only 5.8 days before apogee (on 14 November 2022), the Moon's apparent diameter was smaller.
The next total lunar eclipse will take place on 14 March 2025.
A lunar occultation of Uranus happened during the eclipse. It was the first total lunar eclipse on Election Day in US history. This event was referred in media coverage as a "beaver blood moon".
This lunar eclipse was the fourth and last of an almost tetrad, the others being 26 May 2021 (T), 19 November 2021 (P) and 16 May 2022 (T).The total lunar eclipse was visible from New England on the morning of November 8, 2002. Penumbral phase started at 3:02 AM EST.
Partial eclipse began at 4:09 AM EST. totality began at 5:17 AM EST. Totality ended at 6:62 AM EST..
Lunar Eclipse November 2022 Video