PEMBROKE PARK, Fla. – There was something quite unique appearing in South Florida’s skies on Sunday night.
A blood moon lunar eclipse turned the moon red.
The moon turned red as the sun’s rays passed through the earth’s atmosphere before reaching the moon.
The blue and green light is scattered, but the red colors remain. This is where the “blood” moon comes in.
A lunar eclipse is safe to view with the naked eye. There are no special glasses required, unlike a solar eclipse.
Seeing the eclipse depended on cloud cover and South Florida had some thunderstorms Sunday that lingered into the evening.
Depending on where you are in South Florida, some breaks in the clouds developed, although it was not a perfectly clear view for everyone.
Here is a rough timeline estimate for the eclipse:
- 9:32 p.m. Penumbral eclipse begins
- 10:27 p.m. Partial eclipse begins
- 11:29 p.m. Total eclipse begins
- 12:11 a.m. Maximum eclipse
- 12:53 a.m. Total eclipse ends
- 1:55 a.m. Partial eclipse ends
- 2:50 a.m. Penumbral eclipse ends
The penumbra refers to the more diffuse outer shadow of the earth.
There will be one more total lunar eclipse in November, otherwise the next one will not be until 2025.
🌕 Sunday night’s blood moon lunar eclipse will turn the moon red! It will happen in stages. Here’s the timeline… pic.twitter.com/4iGZvUYzFv
— Brandon Orr (@BrandonOrrWPLG) May 15, 2022