Blood red moon to be visible Sunday night in Sask. during the lunar eclipse
On Sunday night you’ll be able to get a glimpse of a blood-red moon on during the lunar eclipse.
“The lunar eclipse happens when we have three things lining up in succession; we have the sun, we have the moon, and we have the earth, but the earth is in the middle,” said Tim Yaworksi, a member of the Saskatoon centre of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada.
“The earth is cutting the light from reflecting off the moon. So what's going to be happening is as it goes into that shadow, what we're going to start to see are chunks of the moon being eaten away.”
Yaworski says the phenomenon will be visible at moonrise, but after 10 p.m. is when things will get interesting.
“The moon itself, as it goes into that shadow, is going to turn a blood red colour, sort of a rusty, rusty red colour as it's fully engulfed in the earth shadow,” he said.
“Whatever light is sort of wrapping around the earth's atmosphere, basically stray light that's shining onto the moon. Now the reason it’s blood red is, the earth’s atmosphere basically acts like a big prism, and all it's letting through essentially is blue-spectrum lighting, which through the miracle of physics, looks red when it hits the moon.”
Yaworski says a lunar eclipse isn’t a rare occurrence.
“This year in Saskatchewan we're going to have two full total lunar eclipses, you’ll be able to see one later in the fall, in November and this one here, so if you miss it you'll have another chance,” he said.
No special equipment will be needed to view the lunar eclipse, and unlike a solar eclipse, you’ll be able to look directly at it.
“You don't need any eye protection, you're not going to go blind, and if you miss the first 15 minutes of it, there's more coming,” said Yaworski.
“The other nice thing about a lunar eclipse is you don't necessarily have to be in a dark sky area. It's not like most things with astronomy where you want to be out away from the city where you do not worry about light pollution.”
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Which Canadian cities have the highest and lowest grocery prices?
Where you live plays a big factor in what you pay at the grocery store. And while it's no secret the same item may have a different price depending on the store, city or province, we wanted to see just how big the differences are, and why.
U.S. says Israel's use of U.S. arms likely violated international law, but evidence is incomplete
The Biden administration said Friday that Israel's use of U.S.-provided weapons in Gaza likely violated international humanitarian law but wartime conditions prevented U.S. officials from determining that for certain in specific airstrikes.
Swarm of 20,000 bees gather around woman’s car west of Toronto
A swarm of roughly 20,000 bees gathered around a woman’s car in the parking lot of Burlington Centre.
'State or state-sponsored actor' believed to be behind B.C. government hacks
The head of British Columbia’s civil service has revealed that a “state or state-sponsored actor” is behind multiple cyber-security incidents against provincial government networks.
Mother assaulted by stranger while breastfeeding baby in her car: Vancouver police
A person was arrested in East Vancouver Thursday after allegedly entering a car while a mother was breastfeeding her four-month-old boy.
More than half the Canadians once detained in Syrian camps for suspected ISIS family members have returned home
A total of 29 Canadians have been freed from detention camps in northeast Syria and brought back to Canada since human rights advocates began lobbying for their release years ago.
Rare severe solar storm Friday could bring spectacular aurora light show across Canada
A rare and severe solar storm is expected to bring spectacular displays of the northern lights, also known as aurora borealis, across much of Canada and parts of the United States on Friday night.
Canada abstains from Palestinian UN membership vote but supports two-state solution
Canada was one of 25 countries that abstained from a United Nations vote on Palestinian membership that passed with overwhelming support on Friday.
Amish youth experience a rite of passage called Rumspringa. It’s not what you might think
The idea of “Rumspringa” has a specific spot in the American imagination. A rite of passage for young people in some Amish communities, Rumspringa is seen by most outsiders as a wild time away from strict Amish rules, when teenagers can experiment with the modern vices of the world.