Total lunar eclipse to be visible on Peninsula early Wednesday — if clouds don’t get in the way

North Olympic Peninsula residents who climb out of bed before sunrise Wednesday may see a super blue moon turn red — if the winter season’s usual cloud cover has parted.

Skywatchers on the West Coast of the United States will see a lunar eclipse of a blue moon — a term that has nothing to do with color but which refers to it being the second full moon in a month — begin at 3:48 a.m. PST, according to a statement from NASA. Totality will start around 4:51 a.m. PST and last until 6:07 a.m. PST.

The moon will be in the western sky, Noah Petro, a scientist for the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, told ABC News. It will dim as it passes into the Earth’s shadow and once it is completely submerged in the earth’s shadow, it will turn red, he added.

Because of the color, some call the moon in eclipse a blood moon.

ADVERTISEMENT
0 seconds of 0 secondsVolume 0%
Press shift question mark to access a list of keyboard shortcuts
00:00
00:00
00:00
 

It also will be a “supermoon.” The closest point in moon’s orbit around the earth is called the perigee. A full moon that happens near perigee is called a supermoon by some. Its proximity makes it seem a little bit bigger and brighter than usual.

The super blue blood moon will be “really stunning event,” Petro said.

“It’s gonna be a pretty spectacular sight to see.”

While the eclipse will be visible before sunrise in North America, Alaska and Hawaii, it will be seen in the Middle East, Asia, eastern Russia, Australia and New Zealand during moonrise in the morning, according to NASA.

For live eclipse coverage online — in case of cloud cover — see https://www.timeanddate.com/live/.

________

The Associated Press contributed to this story.

More in News

Fred Lundahl, a pilot from Whidbey Island, prepares to fuel up his 1968 Cessna Aerobat, named Scarlett, at the Jefferson County International Airport in Port Townsend. Lundahl was picking up his plane Wednesday from Tailspin Tommy’s Aircraft Repair facility located at the airport. (Steve Mullensky/for Peninsula Daily News)
Fueling up

Fred Lundahl, a pilot from Whidbey Island, prepares to fuel up his… Continue reading

After hours pet clinic set for Peninsula

Opening June 6 at Sequim location

Five to be honored with community service awards

Ceremony set Thursday at Port Angeles Senior Community Center

PASD planning for expanding needs

Special education, homelessness, new facilities under discussion

Clallam County Sheriff’s Office Animal Control Deputy Ed Bauck
Clallam Sheriff appoints animal control deputy

Position was vacant since end of 2024

Highway 104 road work to start week

Maintenance crews will repair road surfaces on state Highway… Continue reading

Supreme Court says no to recall reconsider

Sequim man found liable for legal fees

Chimacum Ridge seeks board members

Members to write policy, balance values, chair says

Fire destroys shop east of Port Angeles

A fire on Hickory Street east of Port Angeles… Continue reading

Jefferson Transit Authority to expand Kingston Express route

Jefferson Transit Authority has announced expanded service on its… Continue reading

From left to right, Northwest School of Wooden Boatbuilding students Krystol Pasecznyk and Scott McNair sand a Prothero Sloop with Sean Koomen, the school’s boat building program director. Koomen said the sanding would take one person a few days. He said the plan is to have 12 people sand it together, which will take a few hours. (Elijah Sussman/Peninsula Daily News)
Wooden boatbuilding school building ‘Twin Boats’

Students using traditional and cold-moulding construction techniques