A celestial show is coming to Chicago next weekend, a lunar eclipse will grace the night skies. Chicago astronomer Joe Guzman says it’s a great reason to spend an evening moongazing, as this one “promises to be a really good one!”
Sun. May 15, the lunar eclipse will begin at 8:32 pm.
“Veteran lunar eclipse chasers will look for a slight darkening right at this lower left-hand part of the moon,” Guzman said. “At 9:27 pm, the darker part of the shadow, the umbra starts to take a solid bite out of the moon. At 11:11 this is as dark as the lunar disk will get -- and due to the forest fires out west we may observe the deepest crimson blood red moon that we’ve ever seen.”
The next eclipse begins at 2 am on Nov. 7, so Guzman urges you to catch this one.
“All you need are your eyes, a comfortable chair and a blanket to enjoy,” Guzman said. “Those who have telescopes set them up and share this experience with your family as we observe one celestial object get in the way of another!”
Guzman holds sky watching events open to all at Chicago Park District sites all over the city, you can follow him on his Facebook page.