Partial Lunar Eclipse Visible Over Region Thursday Night

West Virginians will have an opportunity to watch a celestial show Thursday night. 

A partial lunar eclipse will be visible for most of the Americas Thursday night into Friday morning as the moon passes through the Earth’s shadow.   

“What makes a partial lunar eclipse is that the darkest part of the shadow never covers the full part of of the moon,” Jason Ybarra, director of the WVU Planetarium and Observatory said. “There can be anything from just a part or just a sliver of the moon that is not in what’s called the ‘umbra,’ which is the darkest part of the shadow. It will look dark in some parts, and then the rest will, to our eyes, appear just the same.” 

He said although this eclipse will be partial, the moon will be almost fully covered by the Earth’s shadow. 

“We’re not seeing a total lunar eclipse, but it’s very close,” Ybarra said. “About 96% of the moon will be in the darkest part of the shadow.”  

At the peak of the eclipse, the moon will have a faint orange reddish tint as 

the sun’s light filters through the Earth’s atmosphere.  

“The actual color that you see depends on what is happening in our own atmosphere,” Ybarra said. “So, if for some reason, for example, if there were a lot of forest fires, wildfires, or a volcano went off and filled the atmosphere with more particulates, that would actually change how the color looks during a lunar eclipse.” 

The partial lunar eclipse will begin around 10:30 p.m. Thursday and end close to 2 a.m. Friday morning, with the peak eclipse coming just after midnight.  

“Because the eclipse for a lunar eclipse takes such a long time to happen, you can go out maybe at 10 o’clock, and you may not see something,” Ybarra said. “Really you want to go out at midnight because around midnight is when you have the maximum. The lunar eclipse takes a much longer time than a solar eclipse does.” 

Weather may play a role in the ability to see the eclipse. The National Weather Service forecasts scattered showers and thunderstorms Thursday night, mainly between 8 p.m. and 10 p.m. with patchy fog after 1 a.m. and an increase in cloud coverage throughout the night. 

West Virginians will have another chance to view a total lunar eclipse in 2029.