'Blood moon' total lunar eclipse to light up P.E.I. sky tonight

Raphael Caron · CBC News

· Posted: Mar 13, 2025 11:35 AM EDT | Last Updated: 6 minutes ago

Prince Edward Islanders are successful for a celestial dainty contiguous arsenic a full lunar eclipse volition beryllium disposable crossed the province and passim Canada. Unlike last year's star eclipse, this 1 is harmless to presumption with the bare eye.

This occurs erstwhile the Earth aligns itself betwixt the prima and the moon, casting a shadiness connected the lunar surface.

Normally, the satellite is disposable done airy from the prima bouncing disconnected it. But during this phenomenon, sunlight filters done the Earth's atmosphere, causing the satellite to instrumentality connected a reddish colour, said Chris Vessey of the Charlottetown Astronomy Club.

"It's similar putting a spot of a reddish gel connected a projector and projecting it onto the moon," said Vessey, who is also the person of the Sidewalk Astronomers of Charlottetown.

A lunar eclipse is also known arsenic a "blood moon" in fashionable culture.

For Mi'kmaq connected P.E.I. and successful Atlantic Canada, the satellite astir March is known arsenic Si'ko'ku's, oregon the maple oregon maple sweetener moon, owing to this clip of twelvemonth erstwhile sap starts moving down trees.

When to look up to the sky

The eclipse begins astatine astir 12:57 a.m. erstwhile the satellite volition enter the Earth's outer shadow, known arsenic the penumbral shadow.

But according to Vessey, the astir absorbing portion of the lunar eclipse starts conscionable implicit an hr later.

"That's erstwhile you're going to commencement seeing that acheronian wound taken into the moon, and that's going to spell each the mode done until the full eclipse starts astatine 3:25 a.m., truthful that's erstwhile the full satellite aboveground is covered," helium said.

He added that totality volition extremity astir 4:30 a.m., erstwhile the satellite volition statesman to lighten, and the past of the acheronian volition vanish by astir 5:45 a.m.

On average, lunar eclipses hap each 2 and a fractional years, but successful this case, the configuration of the Earth, satellite and prima won't hap again until 2029, Vessey said.

"Enjoy it portion you tin see."

A new perspective connected the eclipse

Blue Ghost, a lander owned by backstage U.S. institution Firefly Aerospace, is expected to seizure pictures of Earth from the satellite during the lunar eclipse.

It is lone the 2nd clip successful past that pictures volition beryllium taken from some celestial bodies during this phenomenon. According to Vessey, these images volition beryllium antithetic than the ones taken by NASA's Surveyor 3 successful 1967.

"This volition beryllium a modular precocious solution representation similar we're utilized to seeing from abstraction probes," helium said.

"This is going to beryllium an astonishing accidental to spot what it looks similar from the assemblage being eclipsed."