The lunar eclipse will take place on January 20 and 21 and those living in North America are going to have one of the best views of the lunar phenomenon. Millions of people in North and South America will have a prime view of the total lunar eclipse from Sunday, January 20 into Monday, January 21. The full moon will become fully tinted with the red-orange colour and the January 21 total lunar eclipse will be the last one until May 2021 and the last one visible from the United States until 2022.
The phenomenon where the moon will appear reddish and closer to Earth.
How to watch the lunar eclipse in Virginia
The total lunar eclipse will be visible in North America on Sunday, January 20.
But in Virginia, the eclipse will reach its peak during the early hours of Monday, January 21 and will be best viewed just after midnight.
The first phase of the eclipse, known as the penumbral phase, will begin at 9.36pm (EST) in Virginia, but the moon will appear dark until 10.33pm when the moon will start getting red.
Totality will begin at 11.41pm and the maximum eclipse will be reached at 12.11am on Monday, January 21.
The total eclipse is set to end at 12.43am and the partial eclipse ends completely at 1.50am on Monday morning.
The Super Blood Wolf Moon will be visible from across different parts of the world on January 20 and 21.
A total lunar eclipse takes place when there is a full moon and during the phenomenon, the Sun, Earth, and the Moon are perfectly lined up with the Earth blocking the Sun’s light from falling directly on the Moon.
However, the light that manages to pass from the edge of the Earth’s atmosphere lit up the Moon’s surface and makes it look red.
This red appearance is the reason it is referred to as a ‘blood moon’, a popular moniker for lunar eclipses.
When the lunar eclipse begins, the bright moon dims as it enters the outer part of Earth’s shadow, called the penumbra.
The deep tint of a full lunar eclipse is visible once the moon enters the deepest part of Earth’s shadow, or umbra.
The January 20-21 total lunar eclipse will last one hour and two minutes, according to NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center lunar eclipse projections.
The full experience, from the start of the partial eclipse to the end, will last three hours and 17 minutes.
The peak is known as the “greatest eclipse” and is defined as the moment when the moon comes closest to the axis of Earth’s shadow.
All of North and South America, including the Caribbean nations, will see the entire total lunar eclipse. People in countries in Europe such as Iceland, Ireland, and Portugal will get to view all the eclipse.
But people in Ukraine and Turkey will not be able to see the whole eclipse, but they will still wake up to an impressive lunar sight.