Lunar Events

8 N the Red May 2021

Over the moon

Upcoming lunar events spark interest

Lily Thomas thomalil000@hsestudents.org

About every two and a half years, the Earth rotates between the moon and the sun, covering the moon with its shadow. This is known as a total lunar eclipse. On May 26, there will be a total lunar eclipse visible in North America. It will peak around 7:11 a.m. and can be seen best in a clear sky, according to the Skymap website. When at totality, the moon will appear red in the night sky, thus giving this lunar event the name Blood Moon. “I enjoy looking at the moon and stars because I just plainly nd it beautiful,” junior astronomy student Jack Douthit said. “Having a space wallpaper on your laptop isn’t nearly as pretty as seeing the real thing at night somewhere with little to no light pollution.” Astronomy teacher Marcy Clone suggests a few resources when looking for upcoming lunar events. She recommends visiting the Skymap website, which has a comprehensive list of all the lunar events each month. Local news anchors are another option, as they o en have information on the day of the lunar events. Before the moon eclipses on May 26, there will be a supermoon, which, according to Clone, occurs when the moon is at perigee. Being at perigee means that the moon’s orbit is closest to Earth. “I don’t think we really appreciate the beauty of the night sky that much because it’s always there, we don’t think about it,” junior astronomy student Jenna Piccininno said. “If you go somewhere rural and you look up and you can really see the stars, that’s just a fascinating thing.” Another lunar event happening soon is the annular solar eclipse on June 10, with the maximum eclipse being visible around 6:41 a.m. According to The Sea and Sky astrology calendar, this type of eclipse happens because the moon is too far from Earth to fully cover the Sun, so the moon appears to have a glowing ring of light behind it as a result. Other upcoming lunar events are visible planets throughout May, another supermoon in June and the June Solstice. “Astronomy is just amazing,” Clone said. “Just looking out at the night sky and seeing all those stars, it makes you feel like you’re really part of something and it’s so much bigger than you really think.”

Astronomy covers a wide variety of celestial bodies, galaxies, comets, universes and other things in space, according to Clone. For those interested in space, there are two astronomy classes o ered: astronomy I and astronomy II. Douthit says that the most interesting thing he has learned in astronomy is how planets are formed. “It’s a very interesting class where you can learn about an exciting topic while also not being a class that puts too much stress on you, work-wise,” Douthit said. “It o ers a great break from the rest of the school day where you can have a relatively chill class about an exciting topic.” Piccininno recommends taking astronomy because it taught her things she never thought about before. She also believes astronomy is something everyone can connect with. “I 100% believe that it [astronomy] can bring people together because we all live beneath the same sky,” Piccininno said. “We all can look up and see the same exact sky, which is so fascinating that we all have that in common.”

Total lunar eclipse visible on May 26

Venus visible throughout May Annular solar eclipse visible on June 10 Mercury visible throughout May