Total eclipse of the Moon, December 20/21, 2010, taken from home with 130mm AP apo refractor at f/6 and Canon 7D at ISO 400 for 4 seconds, single exposure, shortly after totality began. (Photo by Alan Dyer, AmazingSky.com)

By Shane Clausing

lunar eclipse

Partial lunar eclipse potentially visible in Peace Region early Wednesday morning

May 25, 2021 | 2:24 PM

Residents in the Peace Region and throughout Alberta will potentially be in the viewing sites of a partial lunar eclipse on Wednesday morning.

A lunar eclipse occurs when the Moon moves into the Earth’s shadow and can only occur when the sun and moon are exactly or very closely aligned with earth, and only on the night of a full moon.

“What we are going to see is around 3:44 a.m. (mountain time), the moon will slowly dip into the earth’s dark shadow called the Umbra, for the next hour or so until about 5:11 a.m.” explained Frank Florian, the Director of Planetarium and Space Sciences at the TELUS World of Science in Edmonton.

While the eclipse will happen on Wednesday morning, Florian adds the Peace Region and Alberta’s view of the phenomenon will be limited.

“Unfortunately, from Alberta, we will only be able to see a part of the partial phases of the lunar eclipse. The total eclipse phase will happen when the sun is already up in the sky,” said Florian.

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“The chances of seeing a red moon or blood moon with this total lunar eclipse is very slim. Of course, if we have cloud cover, we won’t be able to see much of anything either.”

In case the cloud cover dissipates in some areas, Geoff Robertson, the Past President of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada Edmonton Centre laid out a timeline of what the eclipse will look like in the Peace Region:

• 2:47 a.m. – Penumbral phase begins. This is where the Moon enters the Earth’s outer shadow. The Moon will take on a dusky appearance as it gets deeper into the outer shadow. Many may notice no difference in its appearance.
• 3:44 a.m. – Partial phase begins. The Moon enters into the darkest part of the Earth’s shadow.
• 5:11 a.m. – Totality begins. The Moon is fully in the Earth’s shadow. Normally the Moon will take on an orange/copper tinge from sunlight refracting off the Earth’s atmosphere and shining on the Moon.
• 5:18 a.m. – Maximum eclipse. The Moon is as far into the shadow as it will get for this eclipse.
• 5:25 a.m. – Totality ends. This is a very short lunar eclipse as the moon does not travel deep into the Umbra.
• 5:29 a.m. – Sunrise in Grande Prairie.
• 5:39 a.m. – Moonset.

Lunar eclipses can occur 2-3 times per year, but not all of them are total eclipses.

For those that are interested in waking up early to see the eclipse, Florian adds that lunar eclipses are safe to look at without eye protection.

“If you have binoculars or a telescope that’s a great way to look at lunar eclipses and look at as the eclipse progresses. You don’t need to have any type of special viewing equipment at all for looking at a lunar eclipse.”

According to Florian, the next visible eclipse in Grande Prairie will be on November 19, which will be more favorable for people to see because it’ll be higher in the sky.