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Posts Tagged ‘March 14 2025’

Ephemeris: 03/13/2025 – Get ready for tomorrow morning’s total lunar eclipse

March 13, 2025 Comments off

This is Ephemeris for Thursday, March 13th. Today the Sun will be up for 11 hours and 48 minutes, setting at 7:46, and it will rise tomorrow at 7:56. The Moon, 1 day before full, will set at 8:06 tomorrow morning.

Late, late, late, tonight, or actually early tomorrow morning there will be a total eclipse of the Moon. The moment of full moon, which is necessary for a lunar eclipse will occur at 2:55 AM tomorrow, and the middle of the eclipse will be 5 minutes later. The partial phase of the lunar eclipse will start at 1:10 AM. This partial phase will grow until 2:26 AM when totality will begin. During this period of time the Moon should have a dull reddish color because it is illuminated only by the light filtering through the Earth’s atmosphere from the combined sunrises and sunsets around the world at that time. The total phase will end at 3:31 AM. The ending partial phase will continue until 4:48 AM.

The astronomical event times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan (EDT, UT – 4 hours). Times will be different for other locations.

Addendum

Total lunar eclipse: The Moon moves from right to left in relation to the Earth's shadow
The Moon moves from right to left in relation to the Earth’s shadow. Created using Stellarium, LibreOffice Draw, and GIMP.

Categories: Eclipses, Ephemeris Program, Lunar Eclipse, Observing Tags: ,

Ephemeris: 03/11/2025 – There will be a lunar eclipse early Friday morning

March 11, 2025 Comments off

This is Ephemeris for Tuesday, March 11th. Today the Sun will be up for 11 hours and 42 minutes, setting at 7:44, and it will rise tomorrow at 8:00. The Moon, 3 days before full, will set at 7:32 tomorrow morning.

Early Friday morning, the 14th there will be a total eclipse of the Moon. Of course, we all hope for clear skies, but this is March. About 12:30 AM, keen observers might notice that the lower left side of the Moon seems to be a bit dimmer than the opposite side rather than the Moon being evenly illuminated. That’s because that leading edge of the Moon is witnessing a partial eclipse of the Sun. The moon is in the Earth’s penumbra or partial shadow where the Sun is being gradually cut off from the eastern part of the moon to the western part. The partial phase will begin at 1:10 AM Friday morning. Totality will begin at 2:26 AM and last until 3:31 AM. The ending partial phase will continue to 4:48 AM.

The astronomical event times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan (EDT, UT – 4 hours). Times will be different for other locations.

Addendum

This is the progress of the eclipse for five events.
This is the progress of the eclipse for five events. The times shown are the times of the contacts. The images are 5 minutes before or after that time. The Moon’s image at mid eclipse in increased for greater clarity. Mid eclipse is when the shadow is darkest. The progress is from right to left as the Moon moves into and through the Earth’s shadow, even though, in the sky, it is carried westward or to the right by the Earth’s rotation. Also, the orientation of the Moon is what one would see with the naked eye or binoculars and not through a telescope. Created using Stellarium, LibreOffice Draw, and GIMP.

I don’t show the Moon when it enters or leaves the penumbra is because nothing is noticeable. About a half hour before the Moon enters the umbra to begin the partial phase of the eclipse, the side of the Moon nearest the umbra will be noticeably duller than the other side. The same is true after the partial phase is over. The effect of the deepening penumbra is more easily seen in sunglasses, that will darken the still bright Moon.

A diagram of the geometry of a lunar eclipse
This is a diagram of the geometry of a lunar eclipse. It is terribly out of scale, but it shows the basic shadows that are produced by an object like the Earth on the Moon. The penumbra is the outer shadow or the partial shadow of the Earth where it is only blocking part of the Sun’s light. It gets deeper as it approachs the inner shadow called the umbra. The umbra which has the same root as the word umbrella, and is a total shadow where the Earth completely covers the face of the Sun. However, in the Earth’s case since it has an atmosphere, the atmosphere bends the light into the shadow and by the time it reaches the Moon it generally completely illuminates it. This is the light passing through the atmosphere around the Earth from all the sunrises and sunsets that are occurring at that time. Since the Sun appears red when it sets, so the light that enters the shadow is also usually red. As far as the scale of this image is concerned: In actuality the Moon’s distance is 30 times the diameter of the Earth away from it, and the Sun is 400 times the distance to the Moon. Created by the author.
Categories: Eclipses, Ephemeris Program Tags: ,