# Total lunar eclipse this evening **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 14, 2014, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/total-lunar-eclipse-this-evening/686116 "2014-04-14T22:36:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![chiroptera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/df705f/32.png) [@chiroptera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chiroptera)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2014, 11:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/total-lunar-eclipse-this-evening/686116/21 "2014-04-15T11:42:44Z")
I wish I’d been able to see it. Sadly by 2 am, it not only full overcast here in SE Michigan, but snowing. Blech. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2014, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/total-lunar-eclipse-this-evening/686116/22 "2014-04-15T17:28:11Z")
Another overcast victim. Haven’t seen one in a while. It would be hard to beat the one I saw from an airliner. No cloud problems there. And I am absolutely sick of this “blood moon” crap. It’s a total lunar eclipse. ---
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2014, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/total-lunar-eclipse-this-evening/686116/23 "2014-04-15T17:31:23Z")
Bah. There was a planet in the way. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2014, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/total-lunar-eclipse-this-evening/686116/24 "2014-04-15T17:42:51Z")
In the Bay Area I could see it through thin clouds, and it wasn’t nearly as sharp as others I’ve seen, so I didn’t wait for totality. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2014, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/total-lunar-eclipse-this-evening/686116/25 "2014-04-15T17:54:39Z")
Happened to see it when I woke up in the middle of the night. Great view. We live at very high altitude and far from city lights. ---
**Author:** ![drewtwo99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d07c76/32.png) [@drewtwo99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewtwo99)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2014, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/total-lunar-eclipse-this-evening/686116/26 "2014-04-16T00:41:12Z")
Got a great view of it during totality, it was a reddish-orange for me here in Houston, on a perfectly clear (but rather chilly) night. It was a work night for me so I couldn’t stay up and watch it for long, but I did watch it long enough to see the last little sliver dissappear as it became totally eclipsed. Wish I could have seen it when it was “blood red” though. I still have never caught that. The eclipses I’ve always seen have just been a rusty color. Still really neat to see the shadow overtake the whole thing. ETA: How cool would it be to be on the moon and watch the Earth during a Lunar Eclipse? Would it look like a big red ring? Any simulations or videos of this? ---
**Author:** ![Renee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/renee/32/287_2.png) [@Renee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Renee)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2014, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/total-lunar-eclipse-this-evening/686116/27 "2014-04-16T00:49:59Z")
We had a great view of it from the hot tub. Very nice. ---
**Author:** ![Cunctator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2014, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/total-lunar-eclipse-this-evening/686116/28 "2014-04-16T02:36:45Z")
> [@ftg](#): > > And I am absolutely sick of this “blood moon” crap. It’s a total lunar eclipse. Indeed. And also all the nonsense about how rare total lunar eclipses are. They occur on average about once every eighteen months. ---
**Author:** ![drewtwo99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d07c76/32.png) [@drewtwo99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewtwo99)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2014, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/total-lunar-eclipse-this-evening/686116/29 "2014-04-16T03:38:36Z")
Sure, total lunar eclipses aren’t all that rare. But I haven’t had the opportunity to see one since I was in college about 6 years ago, due to a number of factors like: They were only visible from the other side of the Earth, it was cloudy, I just plain never heard about it until after the fact (oops). I think what people are taking into account is all the above factors, and also the fact that they distinguish Total from Partial. So how often does a total lunar eclipse happen where You live on a night that has good visibility? I bet it’s a lot less frequently than once every 18 months. And yeah, the term Blood Moon is stupid. ---
**Author:** ![rowrrbazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rowrrbazzle/32/414_2.png) [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2014, 4:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/total-lunar-eclipse-this-evening/686116/30 "2014-04-16T04:40:23Z")
It cleared up here, and there were only a few thin clouds that obscured the Moon very little. I stayed up until midpoint. There was a reddish tint to the Moon, but it certainly wasn’t a literal “blood Moon” (which I agree is a stupid term). > [@drewtwo99](#): > > ETA: How cool would it be to be on the moon and watch the Earth during a Lunar Eclipse? Would it look like a big red ring? Any simulations or videos of this? [http://www.skyandtelescope.com/astronomy-news/observing-news/aprils-total-eclipse-of-the-moon/](http://www.skyandtelescope.com/astronomy-news/observing-news/aprils-total-eclipse-of-the-moon/) > [@](#): > > Total eclipse: From the Moon’s perspective, the Sun remains completely hidden for 1 hour 18 minutes. From Earth’s perspective, the lunar disk isn’t completely blacked out but instead remains dimly lit by a deep orange or red glow. Why so? > > Our atmosphere scatters and refracts (bends) sunlight that grazes the rim of our globe, so that red glow comes from all the sunrises and sunsets around Earth’s terminator at the moment. If you were an astronaut standing on the Moon, you’d see Earth ringed with a thin, brilliant band of sunset- and sunrise-colored light. There were photos taken in 1967, but they’re low-res and b/w. Animated gif here [APOD: 2014 April 7 - A Solar Eclipse from the Moon](http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap140407.html) ---
**Author:** ![rowrrbazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rowrrbazzle/32/414_2.png) [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2014, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/total-lunar-eclipse-this-evening/686116/31 "2014-04-16T04:46:36Z")
BTW [NASA - Eclipses During 2014](http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/OH/OH2014.html#tetrads) > [@](#): > > The lunar eclipses of 2014 are the first of four consecutive total lunar eclipses - a series known as a tetrad. They’ll occur about every 6 months, but totality won’t be seen in the USA for the next 2 eclipses. ---
**Author:** ![drewtwo99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d07c76/32.png) [@drewtwo99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewtwo99)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2014, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/total-lunar-eclipse-this-evening/686116/32 "2014-04-16T05:02:05Z")
> [@rowrrbazzle](#): > > It cleared up here, and there were only a few thin clouds that obscured the Moon very little. I stayed up until midpoint. There was a reddish tint to the Moon, but it certainly wasn’t a literal “blood Moon” (which I agree is a stupid term). > > [http://www.skyandtelescope.com/astronomy-news/observing-news/aprils-total-eclipse-of-the-moon/](http://www.skyandtelescope.com/astronomy-news/observing-news/aprils-total-eclipse-of-the-moon/) > > There were photos taken in 1967, but they’re low-res and b/w. Animated gif here [APOD: 2014 April 7 - A Solar Eclipse from the Moon](http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap140407.html) Just as I suspected. I would kill to see an HD video in true-color of a “solar eclipse from the moon’s perspective” or whatever you want to call it. The black and white is awesome in and of itself but doesn’t really do it justice. A reddish-orange ring hanging around in the sky would just be so cool to see. Out of curiosity, would it be safe to directly look at, since presumably all or almost all of the UV is getting filtered out by the Earth’s atmosphere during a lunar eclipse? ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2014, 5:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/total-lunar-eclipse-this-evening/686116/33 "2014-04-16T05:42:52Z")
> [@ftg](#): > > And I am absolutely sick of this “blood moon” crap. It’s a total lunar eclipse. I blame Game of Thrones. (Plus it’s fun to say) ---
**Author:** ![jimbuff314](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c57346/32.png) [@jimbuff314](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jimbuff314)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2014, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/total-lunar-eclipse-this-evening/686116/34 "2014-04-16T20:17:44Z")
Not _Morrowind_? (Playing through again right now.) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/total-lunar-eclipse-this-evening/686116.md?page=1)