Utahns might get to see the earth’s shadow crossing over the moon in the wee small hours of Friday morning — if the weather is clear, and that’s a big if.
The event, a lunar eclipse, will begin shortly after midnight Friday morning, when the moon enters the “umbral shadow,” the darkest part of the earth’s shadow, according to Utah astronomer Patrick Wiggins.
At 2:02 a.m. Mountain time, 97% of the moon’s surface will be covered by the umbral shadow. That’s not complete coverage, Wiggins said, but it may be enough for people to see the darkened part of the moon take on some of the colors associated with total lunar eclipses.
The moon will then start to leave the umbral shadow, and will be clear of it at 3:47 a.m.
“Let’s hope the weather will cooperate Friday morning,” said Wiggins, who is retired from the Hansen Planetarium (the predecessor of Salt Lake City’s Clark Planetarium).
The National Weather Service says clear skies aren’t likely. The agency is forecasting mostly cloudy weather Thursday night into Friday morning.
If the view is clear, Wiggins noted, one does not need any special viewing equipment to watch a lunar eclipse — unlike solar eclipses.
Utah saw a “supermoon” lunar eclipse in May. Two total lunar eclipses will be visible in Utah’s skies in 2022, in May and November, Wiggins said. The next solar eclipse that will pass over Utah won’t be until 2023, he said.