Sun 5/15 @ 10:30PM

All you eclipse watchers, get set and pray for clear weather: there’s a Blood Moon total lunar eclipse coming up on May 15-16.

As Space.com explains, “When a total lunar eclipse happens, it passes into the umbra or deep shadow of the Earth. Light from our planet is refracted around the edges of the atmosphere and falls upon the moon’s surface. That’s where the red hue comes from. More simply put, you can imagine the sunsets and sunrises of our planet being reflected upon the moon’s surface.”

This eclipse will be visible in northeast Ohio starting around 10:30pm Sunday May 15 and looking the most dramatic until around midnight.

You can, of course, watch from your backyard. But if you’d like to do so in the presence of a seasoned skywatcher and with access to telescopes, come out to the Geauga Park District’s Observatory park for an eclipse watch event from 10:30pm-2am. There’ll be multiple telescopes set up and naturalist “Astro-Nat” Chris Mentrek will be on hand to answer any questions. There’ll even be a One will even be a “snapshot station,” to take up-close photos of the moon with your cell phone.

“This is the first total lunar eclipse we’ve had a chance to see in years; our previous few lunar eclipses have been pretty lackluster, to be honest,” says Mentrek. “We missed the lunar eclipse in November 2021 due to a snowstorm, and the partial lunar eclipse of May 2021 only offered a glimpse right at sunset. This month, we get to see a total lunar eclipse in its entirety, which is a great opportunity!”

For more information go to geaugaparkdistrict.org where there’s an animated graphic to help guide you to your ideal viewing time.