Blood moon eclipse visible from southern Interior this weekend

Residents of the southern B.C. Interior will have a prime seat for the total lunar eclipse this weekend if the weather cooperates.

Overnight Sunday, Jan. 20, the full moon will become fully tinted with the red-orange colour of sunset during the celestial event. A lunar eclipse is produced when the moon enters the Earth's shadow.

This will be the last total lunar eclipse visible from B.C. until 2022, according to Space.com. The last one seen in our region occurred on Jan. 31 last year.

The experts at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center say the total eclipse is expected to last one hour and two minutes, with the full experience from partial eclipse to the end going three hours and 17 minutes. They say the eclipse will begin at around 7:30 p.m. Jan. 20. Hopefully we'll have clear skies that night so the eclipse will be visible.

The moon will appear bright red in colour once the moon is fully engulfed in shadows, making it a “blood” moon as well. The blood colouring of the moon is the result of impurities in our atmosphere.

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