Early risers in Toronto may want to look out on the horizon Tuesday morning for the “Blood Moon,” as the next one won’t be back for years.
A total lunar eclipse will unfold in the early hours, turning the moon a crimson red as it slips into the Earth’s shadow and sunlight bends through the planet’s atmosphere.
Elaina Hyde, director of the Allan I. Carswell Observatory at York University, explained this kind of eclipse only happens when the Earth and the Moon align in a straight line, or what astronomers call a node of orbit.
“Generally, lunar eclipses are seen around about every two to three years,” Hyde explained. “It just so happens that this time it’s going to be at least three years before we get another one.”
This celestial show, the very first eclipse of the year, will last for around five and a half hours. The penumbral phase, the subtle, harder-to-spot beginning, starts just before 3:45 a.m.
