The total lunar eclipse that will occur on Sunday, May 15, and into the early hours of Monday 16, 2022 in North America is no ordinary eclipse. The inhabitants will be able to witness a “supermoon.” It also has a twin and is the first of two of the most “balanced” lunar eclipses for four centuries.
The lunar eclipse is special due to several other reasons as well.
The eclipse is longest ‘prime-time totality’ in the 21st centuary for observers in the Pacific Time Zone, according to Timeanddate.com. About 1 hour and 25 minutes of totality will be visible from across the 48 states of America.
Totality is the period where the Full Moon is completely covered by the dark part of Earth’s shadow, and turns a reddish color.
For Pacific and Mountain Time Zones, totality will be a prime-time Sunday evening event: it will run from around 8:29 pm to 9:53 pm PDT/MST, and 9:29 pm to 10:53 pm MDT.
Technical ‘Supermoon’
This total lunar eclipse occurs close to Moon’s perigee i.e point in space when it’s closest to the Earth in a month which will make the Moon appear about 7% larger than average. Chances of the moon bringing “king tide” to the coastal areas are also high.
‘Twin eclipse’ that happens once in 430 years.
The next total solar eclipse is just 145 days later on November 7-8, 2022. Weirdly that also features an 84-minute totality. According to Timeanddate.com, it’s the most balanced pair of lunar eclipses in 430 years.
Moreover, the Moon will pass through the southern half of the Earth’s shadow. The moon’s northern limb—closest to the center of Earth’s shadow—is predicted to be rather dark during totality.
‘Blood Moon; will be close to an orange star
The Moon will be visible in the background of prominent stars of the orangey Antares and neighboring Scorpios. The 15th brightest star in the night sky Antares is 600 light-years away about 700 times larger than the Sun.
Eclipse best watched from Bolivia.
The “sublunar- point” of the eclipse is the Salar de Uyuni—also called the Bolivian salt flats—which cover 4,000 square miles/10,000 square kilometers. Rich in lithium, table salt, and gypsum, the incredibly flat and bright (from space) landscape is a fabulous place to go stargazing.
