When to Watch the Lunar Eclipse in May
If you ever look at the full moon and think, “I guess that’s fine, but when does she do something?” May is your month. This month, most of North America will see a total lunar eclipse, a full “blood moon”. You can watch all shows in most of North America, all of South America and West Africa, and parts of Western Europe late on May 15th until May 16th.
The full schedule for observing the May lunar eclipse
If all goes according to plan – and we all better hope so – the eclipse will occur at the following times in the following stages:
- May 15 at 9:31 pm ET: Penumbral eclipse begins. This is when the earth’s shadow first passes in front of the moon.
- May 15 at 10:27 pm ET: Partial eclipse begins. This is the moon entering the darkest part of the Earth’s shadow.
- May 16 at 00:02 ET: Maximum Eclipse! This is the moment we’ve been waiting for when the eclipse is total!
- May 16 at 00:53 ET: End of total eclipse.
- May 16, 1:54 AM ET: End of partial eclipse.
- May 16 at 2:52 AM ET : End of penumbral eclipse. The moon is back to normal and everyone is smoking cigarettes after all this moon commotion.
What is a lunar eclipse?
A lunar eclipse is when the Earth’s shadow passes in front of the Moon and briefly obscures it. Eclipses can be partial, when only part of the Earth’s shadow eclipses the Moon, or total, when the entire Moon is eclipsed by the Earth’s shadow. However, the moon does not completely disappear. Light from terrestrial sunsets and sunrises still reaches the surface of the moon, and these stretched light waves make the moon red. We call it the Blood Moon.
Do I need eye protection to watch a lunar eclipse?
Unlike a solar eclipse, a lunar eclipse can be observed without eye protection.
Why is the May moon called the “Flower Moon”?
The names of the moons are unofficial and based on the lunar calendars used by the Native Americans. May’s nickname “Flower Moon” comes from the Algonquian peoples and is based (you guessed it) on the fact that flowers bloom in May.
Most Native American groups have called the May moon the return of spring. The Cree named it “Blooming Moon” because of the native plants. The Dakota called it “Landing Moon” as it’s a good time to land. My favorite name for the moon of May comes from Ogal, who called it the descriptive and evocative “Moon Pony Moon”.
Are there interesting historical events associated with lunar eclipses?
I’m glad you asked! In 1504, that old bastard Christopher Columbus was stranded in what is now Jamaica. His ships were damaged in a storm, and his crew survived in large part thanks to the charity of the Arawaks. But the tension between the groups grew. Unwelcome guests abused the hospitality by robbing the hosts and killing some of them, so the Arawaks said “enough” and stopped bringing food to Columbus and his crew.
Faced with starvation and possibly death at the hands of angry Arawaks, Columbus met with the head of the group and said, “Listen: God is angry with you for not bringing us food anymore. He is so angry that in a couple of nights the moon will turn red.”
I’m sure they kicked him out of the room with laughter, but unbeknownst to the Arawaks, Columbus consulted an astronomical text and knew that there would be an eclipse on the night he predicted.
When the night of the eclipse came, the moon really rose red, and the Arawaks begged Columbus to intercede for their god. Columbus (the lying bastard) pretended to convince the god to spare the Arawaks by timing his prayers exactly on the moments of the total eclipse. The moon returned to normal, and the impressed Arawaks continued to feed the lazy invaders until they were rescued a few months later.
This story reads almost like a historical myth, but it really happened – at least according to the story of the journey of the son of Christopher Columbus. He probably wasn’t smart enough to make up the whole story, and the dates of the eclipse coincide with the travel dates of Columbus (moron).
Random fact about the moon
In the second century, the Roman writer Lucian wrote (arguably) the first science fiction story. In The True Story, explorers go into space on a ship and find themselves at the epicenter of a war between the Moon and the Sun.