There’s a total lunar eclipse tonight…and for once we happen to be in one of the best places on earth to take in this rarity. Scientists refer to the moon in this type of full eclipse as a Blood Moon, since the moon should turn a beautiful reddish, brown starting around 11p Monday night.
There will be a total of four Blood Moons in the coming year in roughly six month intervals…April 2014, October 2014, April 2015 and September 2015.
Griffith Observatory will host a free public viewing event. Free parking and shuttles will be available at The Greek Theater starting at 7pm on Monday, April 14. The Griffith Observatory event will conclude at 2am. See the listing of events below:
Building Activities
- Building, roof, and Zeiss telescope OPEN
- Lawn telescopes, binoculars, and naked eye viewing from lawn, sidewalks, and terraces
- Shows in the Samuel Oschin Planetarium (7:45 p.m., 8:45 p.m., 10:15 p.m., 11:15 p.m.)
- Café at the End of the Universe and Stellar Emporium OPEN (starting at 7:00 p.m.)
- LiveStream of the eclipse live from the Zeiss dome on Griffith Observatory’s LiveStream page.
- Special presentation about the Moon with Griffith Observatory Curator, Dr. Laura Danly, and Griffith Observatory Astronomical Observer, Anthony Cook. Joint program with the Los Angeles Astronomical Society.
Event/Eclipse Timeline
- EVENT BEGINS 7:00 p.m. (and building opens)
- Moon rises 7:08 p.m.
- Moon presentation begins in the Leonard Nimoy Event Horizon 8:00 p.m.
- Penumbral eclipse begins 9:53 p.m.
- Umbral eclipse begins 10:58 p.m. (this is the visible “bite” out of the Moon)
- Totality begins 12:06 a.m. (Moon is totally covered in shadow)
- Maximum eclipse 12:46 a.m.
- Totality ends 1:24 a.m. (Moon emerges from shadow)
- Building closes 1:45 a.m.
- EVENT ENDS 2:00 a.m.
- Umbral eclipse ends 2:33 a.m.
- Penumbral eclipse ends 3:37 a.m.
Advice for Visiting
The folks at the Observatory are expecting large crowds. Those attending should expect traffic congestion and long walks from parking.
For this event only, the Vermont entrance into Griffith Park will remain open until 12:30 a.m. unless the park is full. Fern Dell gates will close at sunset (as usual).
Shuttle buses will be running from Greek Theatre parking to the Observatory (7:00 p.m.-2:30 a.m.)
Please do not bring personal telescopes or lawn chairs to the event.
Website – NASA Eclipse News and Online Events
photo credit: Llima via photopin cc