Total lunar eclipse: How to prepare for next month’s eclipse
The next full moon on the calendar after the Hunter’s Moon on October 9th of this month comes on November 8th. There is also a bonus on this day: a total lunar eclipse.
For viewers in America, this shady drama takes place in the early hours of Tuesday, November 8th. Along the Atlantic coast, the moon enters the dark umbra of the earth about an hour before dawn. Along the Pacific coast, first contact with the umbra occurs just over an hour after midnight, when the moon is just passing its highest point in the sky.
It’s not too early to start preparing for next month’s total lunar eclipse viewing. One of the things to consider is the position of the moon in the sky during the eclipse. For those living on the east coast of the US and Canada, this will be an important factor as the eclipse will initially descend from a point about a quarter altitude in the western sky. Are tall trees or nearby buildings blocking your view of the moon?
Related: Lunar Eclipses 2022: When, Where and How to See Them
You can get a very good idea of where the moon will be in the sky during the eclipse by looking for it on Tuesday morning, October 11th.
On that day, the moon – 1.5 days after full moon – will be very close (within a few degrees) to the region of the sky where it will be for the eclipse on the morning of November 8th. If you check the times given in the table below on the morning of October 11th, the moon appears in the sky very close to where it will be during the actual eclipse of the sun on November 8th.
| Summertime | CDT | MDT | PDT | |
| The solar eclipse begins | 6:24 a.m | 5:24 a.m | 4:24 a.m | 3:24 a.m |
| totality begins | 7:30 a.m | 6.30 am | 5:30 in the morning | 4:30 a.m |
| totality ends | moon below horizon | 7:55 a.m | 6:55 a.m | 5:55 a.m |
| Eclipse ends | moon below horizon | moon below horizon | 8:03 a.m | 7:03 a.m |
For example: On November 8th, for an observer in New York, the total phase of the solar eclipse begins at 5:16 am. At this moment the moon is 13 degrees above the horizon, 9 degrees north due west. (Your clenched fist held at arm’s length is approximately 10 degrees.) Now look at the chart above. Note that the corresponding time for the start of the overall phase is 7:30 am on October 11th. If you step outside at this moment you can get a pretty good approximation of where the Moon will be for New Yorkers on November 11th 8th when totality begins.
Incidentally, it is day on October 11th, but the moon should still be clearly visible in the blue daylight sky. On the other hand, on November 8, the sky will be significantly darker, since dawn has come about fifteen minutes earlier.
This method is especially helpful for those near and along the east coast who may want to determine where the moon will be relative to their local horizon (and local landmarks) as it sets on the morning of the eclipse.
Space.com will have more details on the November 8th lunar eclipse early next month, so stay tuned!
Joe Rao serves as an instructor and visiting professor at New York University Hayden Planetarium (opens in new tab). He writes on astronomy for Journal of Natural History (opens in new tab)the Peasant Almanac (opens in new tab) and other publications. Follow us on Twitter @spacedotcom (opens in new tab) and further Facebook (opens in new tab).