17 hours Ago By CBS Bay Area
On Thursday night, the Bay Area will see a total lunar eclipse -- also known as a blood moon -- though visibility could be impacted by the expected stormy weather . "I live right in the middle of San Francisco, so I'm used to the clouds..
. I know [we're] supposed to be getting some rain later this week, so [I'm] a little worried we won't have a clear sky," said Ryan Wyatt, the senior director of the Morrison Planetarium at the California Academy of Science in San Francisco. "But keeping our fingers crossed!" Ron Hipshman is the senior science content director at the Exploratorium .
He said anyone in the Bay Area with a clear view of the moon will be able to witness the celestial event on March 13. "Eclipses are spectacular. The moon kind of slowly slides into the shadow of the Earth, and turns red," Hipshman explained.
"It's pretty dramatic, I think. The moon almost disappears from the sky, but it doesn't. It becomes this blood-red color.
" A lunar eclipse occurs when the Earth is positioned precisely between the moon and the sun, causing Earth's shadow to fall upon the surface of the moon. "Whenever you look up at the sky, you have this connection to something that's bigger than yourself. And with an eclipse, you can certainly start to think of yourself as, 'Oh, I'm on this planet that's orbiting the Sun and just coincidentally twice a year, we line up just right with the Moon," Wyatt said.
"To just sort of think of your place in all of this is pretty inspiring." The total lunar eclipse is expected to begin at 9:55 p.m.
, according to NASA. By 10:47 p.m.
, half of the moon will be under a shade of red. However, Hipshman, who started working as a staff scientist at the Exploratorium in 1971, suggested Bay Area residents wait for the climax. "I would just go for the umbral shadow, which starts at about 11:26 p.
m. Then, the center of the eclipse is at like 11:59. It's almost exactly at midnight," Hipschman said.
"It couldn't be much better for us! Well, maybe not everyone wants it at midnight." Both Hipschman and Wyatt also said lunar eclipses are much more accessible compared to other celestial events. "You don't have to worry about eye protection like a solar eclipse.
It's perfectly safe to watch a lunar eclipse," Hipschman said. "You can have some binoculars if you want, but it's something you can see with your naked eye." "If you want to see a meteor shower, you've got to find some dark spot with a view of the sky.
If you want to solar eclipse, you've got to go to the right place, part of the world. But with a lunar eclipse, if it's visible in your area, as long as you have a clear sky and view, you can enjoy it," Wyatt said..
