Last Total Lunar Eclipse ‘Blood Moon’ of 2022: When and How to Watch
The moon, sun and Earth will align for a short time on Tuesday, Election Day; those events won’t coincide again until 2394
For the first time, a total lunar eclipse will be visible in the U.S. on Election Day.
In the early hours of Nov. 8, poll workers making their way to sites across the East Coast for the midterm elections and others in the U.S. will be able to watch the total lunar eclipse—what some call a blood moon because of its reddish color.
It is the first time the two events have coincided, according to calculations by the science blog EarthSky.org, which first reported the historic occurrence. A total lunar eclipse won’t fall on Election Day again until Nov. 8, 2394, which is in 372 years.
EarthSky determined that date by comparing Election Day rules with data on future eclipses compiled by a retired astrophysicist from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s Goddard Space Flight Center. General federal elections in the U.S. take place on even-numbered years. The government has designated the Tuesday after the first Monday in November as Election Day, which can fall on Nov. 2- 8.
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In a total lunar eclipse, the entire moon passes through the Earth’s shadow. When the moon is in the Earth’s shadow, it appears to turn a reddish hue. During a partial eclipse, the Earth’s shadow only covers a portion of the moon, while a penumbral eclipse sees the moon orbit through the outer part of the Earth’s shadow.
On Tuesday, a partial eclipse will begin at 4:09 a.m. ET, moving into totality at 5:17 a.m. ET, NASA said. Totality will last nearly 1.5 hours. The eclipse will be interrupted by sunrise for some, but the event will be visible from start to finish on the West Coast and in Alaska and Hawaii.
“As long as you’re on the night side of the Earth when it’s happening, you will be able to see it—assuming you don’t have any clouds where you are,” said Shannon Schmoll, director of the Abrams Planetarium at Michigan State University.
People in North and Central America and in Ecuador, Colombia and western portions of Venezuela and Peru will all be able to see the latest total eclipse. A partial eclipse will be visible in Asia, Australia, and New Zealand.
Unlike solar eclipses, which can cause damage if viewed with the naked eye, no special devices are needed to observe a lunar eclipse safely. But binoculars and telescopes can reveal extra levels of detail in the moon and can give viewers a more vivid look at its reddish hue. Solar eclipses should only be viewed using eclipse glasses or other indirect methods.
For those living in cities, Dr. Schmoll said that light pollution shouldn’t be much of a factor. “The moon is so bright that you don’t really need to get away. It’ll be a gorgeous sky if you can, but you don’ t need to get away from the light pollution to see the lunar eclipse well. You just need a clear sky,” Dr. Schmoll said.
The lunar eclipse will be streamed on multiple websites. Dr. Schmoll said TimeandDate.com provides users with the exact times the segments of the eclipse will occur in any location.
While the next Election Day total lunar eclipse won’t happen for hundreds of years, sky gazers won’t have to wait as long for another blood moon. The next total lunar eclipse, which will be visible in much of North and South America, is projected to occur on March 14, 2025, according to NASA.