BETHLEHEM, Pa. — Brad Klein reviews upcoming astronomical highlights with Bethlehem’s ‘Backyard Astronomy Guy,’ Marty McGuire.
This week, a surprise twist on the total lunar eclipse visible from the Lehigh Valley in the early morning hours of Friday, March 14.
“You’re going to lose some sleep over this one,” according to McGuire.
This lunar eclipse reaches totality 2:58 a.m. EDT locally. The total event stretches from 1:09 to 4:47 a.m. as the moon passes through the Earth’s shadow.
But this eclipse comes with a twist.
A Texas-based company, Firefly Aerospace, successfully landed a robotic craft on the moon’s surface about a week ago. And if all goes according to plan, a camera on that craft, the ‘Blue Ghost’ lander will be looking toward the Earth while Earthlings are gazing at the moon.
What we see as a total lunar eclipse, will look like a slight variation on a total solar eclipse, as seen from Blue Ghost. That’s because the Earth will appear to block the sun (as seen from the moon).
It will look a bit different than a total solar eclipse as seen from Earth, where it is the much smaller moon that blocks the sun. And thanks to a robotic lander, we should have a new and different angle on the alignment of the three most familiar celestial bodies in our solar system.
