Night sky watchers have had plenty to see so far this year and now a total lunar eclipse is visible in Montana this Thursday night.
The entirety of the moon will fall under the darkest part of the earth's shadow. The moon will turn red, which is why lunar eclipses are sometimes called a “blood moon.”
The reason for the change in color is the same phenomenon that makes our sky blue and sunsets orangy red. During a lunar eclipse, sunlight passes through the Earth's atmosphere and still reaches the lunar surface. This refracted light is as if all of the world's sunrises and sunsets are projected onto the moon, giving it a reddish color.
The eclipse will occur late Thursday night, beginning just before 10 pm. The start of totality will be 12:26 am Friday morning, with totality ending at 1:31 am. The eclipse will completely end at 4 am. Also that night in the western sky, Jupiter and Mars will be visible.
This is the only total lunar eclipse visible in Montana this year. The next eclipse will be on March 3, 2026.
Later this month, Venus will be visible in both the morning and evening skies for a few days between the 18 and 21.
March 29, a partial solar eclipse will be visible in the northeastern United States, eastern Canada and Greenland. This will not be visible in Montana.
So get out and enjoy another treat in the night sky this Thursday. All we need is a clear sky.
