Nova Scotia Buzz Look up… look way up! The heavens will be putting on a display this weekend over certain areas of Earth and our province is one of them. You may want your binoculars or telescope for this one. Right now the weather forecast has potential!
A lunar eclipse happens when the full moon travels through our planet’s shadow. During a total lunar eclipse, the full moon passes right through the middle of the darkest part of the shadow (the umbra) turning it a spooky red.
If the full moon passes through the outer part of the shadow we see a penumbral lunar eclipse. That is what we will see this weekend. The Moon won’t dramatically change colour, it will simply dim in brightness.
The lunar eclipse is scheduled to happen late Saturday night or early Sunday morning, depending on the way you look at the date and time. At 12:07AM the penumbral lunar eclipse will begin and be visible in the sky until it ends at 2:52AM. The eclipse will be at it’s maximum at 1:29AM.
The forecast for Nova Scotia at this time is partly cloudy, so you may see this night sky phenomenon when you look up. We’ll post a weather update on Saturday evening. You may also want binoculars or a telescope to watch as it’s not a full lunar eclipse. The moon will be quite small in the sky, but if you’re out between midnight and 3:00AM, look up!
If you’re wondering what those two bright objects along side of of the moon are, they’re Jupiter and Saturn!
