News Talk 94.1/AM 1600 Where The Upper Cumberland Talks
Upper Cumberland residents willing to stay up late Thursday have the opportunity to see a lunar eclipse in the middle of the night.
Tennessee Tech Physics Professor Stephen Robinson said these eclipses happen when the Earth is between the Moon and the Sun, casting a shadow on the Moon. Robinson said these eclipses make the Moon appear as a reddish-orange “blood moon” instead of being fully darkened as one might expect.
“Because the Earth has an atmosphere, the atmosphere actually bends some of the Sun’s light into the place where the shadow is,” Robinson said. “And it preferentially bends the red light coming from the Sun.”
Robinson said different kinds of lunar eclipses happen about twice a year, but this one will be much more intense than others because the moon is passing through the center of Earth’s shadow. Robinson said the event will take about three hours to fully complete starting around 1:30am on Friday.
“There are other eclipses that can happen where the Moon just kind of glances across the edge of the Earth’s shadow and we don’t really get to see the blood moon effect,” Robinson said.
Robinson said lunar eclipses this dramatic only happen once every two or three years. Robinson said the intensity is dependent on how precisely the Earth, Sun, and Moon are all lined up.
“If you watch the shadow of the Earth slowly covering up the Moon, you’ll notice that it’s curved, the shadow of the Earth is curved.” Robinson said. “And in fact the ancient Greeks knew what caused this effect, this lunar eclipse, so they took this as evidence that the Earth is in fact curved and is not flat. So while you’re watching this lunar eclipse you’re looking at evidence that the Earth is round.”
