Lunar Eclipse 2015 - On Apr. 4, 2015, Saturday, the shortest of all total lunar eclipses or "Blood Moons" will be showing itself in most of North America, South America, Asia and parts of Australia. During this April Lunar Eclipse 2015, the moon will reportedly be eclipsed in totality for about 5 minutes, and from beginning to end, the event will last for 3 hours and 29 minutes.
This Lunar Eclipse 2015 is also going to be the third eclipse in the 2014-2015 tetrad, a two-year timespan that a "blood moon" - the moon giving off a shade of intense orange or red thus the "blood" moon moniker -glow above Earth, reports USA Today.
"Totality", such as what will happen during the Lunar Eclipse 2015 on Saturday, is characterized when the Moon is fully inside Earth's shadow.
According to NASA, some total eclipses last for more than an hour. However, this Lunar Eclipse 2015 on Saturday will be short because the moon is skimming the outskirts of Earth's shadow rather than passing centrally through it.
The Lunar Eclipse 2015 this April will begin at 3:16 a.m. Pacific Daylight Time as the moon starts to move into Earth's shadow. The next hour and 45 minutes will consist of that shadow moving across the moon and engulfing it at 4:58 a.m. Pacific Time.
Because this Lunar Eclipse 2015 will only last four minutes and 43 seconds, with the blood moon portion lasting a little less than five minutes, according to NASA, this makes it the shortest eclipse in the century.
The red moon will reportedly be visible from 7:58 a.m. EDT to 8:02 a.m. EDT.
According to Eric Edelman, the host of Slooh's live broadcast of the April Lunar Eclipse 2015 Saturday beginning at 6 a.m. EDT, this eclipse will be a "Pacific Ocean spectacle." He added that it will be best seen from Eastern Australia, Japan, Hawaii, Northeastern Russia and western Alaska.
"The farther west you are in the U.S., the more you will be able to see," said Edelman.
Western North America sky watchers will get the chance to glimpse nearly five minutes of the total Lunar Eclipse 2015 just before sunrise Saturday.
West of the Mississippi River will be having the best view, with at least a partial eclipse seen across the nation. However, sunrise will reportedly be interrupting the show on the East Coast.
People in Eastern U.S. will not have the best view of the Lunar Eclipse 2015 due to clouds, this especially in New England, which will be facing stormy weather, said AccuWeather.com Meteorologist Mark Paquette.
Meanwhile, the reason the East won't be able to glimpse the full Lunar Eclipse 2015 is because of moonset.
Other areas of the world, whose parts of will be able to see the total eclipse are South America, India, China and Russia. Parts of the world which will be unable to see the event are Greenland, Iceland, Europe, Africa and the Middle East, according to CNN.
Slooh is frequent in its airing of live astronomy events due to community observatories all around the world, and for those unable view the total Lunar Eclipse 2015 this Saturday, you can watch the eclipse live or after with Slooh, which will also be showing a replay of the event, according to AccuWeather.
NASA says lunar eclipses usually occur at least twice a year, however, this eclipse is the third in a series of four in a row, known as a "tetrad." The first of the tetrad was on Apr. 15, 2014, the second on September 2014, and the third is the Lunar Eclipse 2015 on Saturday. The fourth and final lunar is set for Sept. 28, 2015, making it the second i nine lunar tetrads in the 21st century. The third is reportedly scheduled to begin in April 2032.
To see Slooh's live broadcast of the event, click here.
This article is copyrighted by Travelers Today, the travel news leader
