Heads Up! Tonight's Full Moon Also Brings A Partial Lunar Eclipse
MIAMI (CBSMiami) – A partial lunar eclipse together with the full moon is happening overnight Thursday to Friday morning.
That's not the only cool thing about this double lunar event. It happens to be that this will be the longest-lasting partial lunar eclipse in 580 years. This Friday morning's partial lunar eclipse will last just over 6 hours.
The partial lunar eclipse begins at 2:18 am EST Friday morning on November 19th. The maximum eclipse will occur at 4:02 am EST. This will be when the Earth's shadow covers almost 98% of the moon. Then the partial lunar eclipse will end at 5:47 am EST.
A lunar eclipse happens when the moon, the sun, and the earth are in line and the earth is in between the sun and the moon. So, the earth's shadow is cast on the moon.
Since the shadow will not cover 100% of the moon during the upcoming event it is called a partial lunar eclipse. By the way, this will be the second lunar eclipse of 2021, the last one occurred back in May.
The partial lunar eclipse happening this Friday morning coincides with the full moon phase and so the moon will glow brightly and partially red. November's full moon is known as the 'Beaver Moon' for two reasons.
One, because this is the time of the year that beavers have already collected as much food for the long winter and begin to hunker down into their lodges. And two, the name also stems from the North American fur trade during the 16th and 17th centuries and during the fur trade, this was the season to trap beavers for their fur.
There is no harm in looking straight at the moon during the eclipse with the use of binoculars, a telescope, or simply with the naked eye. However, South Florida's weather has a high chance of not cooperating if you're wanting to catch a glimpse of the partial lunar eclipse and full moon.
Unfortunately, the forecast is calling for showers and lots of clouds during the nighttime hours Thursday into Friday morning.
