Full Lunar Eclipse and Super Moon Coming This Week

The Sky Spectacle of the Year

May 26, a Wednesday—or ‘Woden’s Day’ for you two or three pagans in the audience—will feature both a total lunar eclipse and a full super moon.

This year, in many parts of the world, the eclipsing of the sun’s light by Earth will shadow our lunar neighbor, turning it an impressive red—hence the name Blood Moon.

This total lunar eclipse is the first in over two years. It will be visible in the western U.S. and Canada, all of Mexico, eastern Asia, Oceania, the Pacific Islands, and western South America before dawn on May 26.

For those on the east coast of the States, the sun will be too low on the horizon when the eclipse occurs—though if you can find a tall enough point (not easy to do in, say, Appalachia), and have a clear view of the horizon—given clear weather you may be able to see the phenomenon.

Check out TimeandDate.com’s excellent viewing guide to find out when the eclipse will hit your location.  Unlike with solar eclipses, you’ll need no special glasses for viewing this event.

A full Super Flower Moon

According to The Old Farmer’s Almanac, the peak full moon illumination will occur at around 7:14am EST on Wednesday morning—but by this point it will be very close or even below the horizon, so you’ll want to head out the night before—or, to be honest, all week is fine: NASA reports that the Moon will appear full from Tuesday night all the way through Friday morning.

May’s Flower Moon—which is also known as the Milk Moon and Corn Planting Moon—will be the biggest and brightest full super moon of 2021.

Farmer’s Almanac reports that this time held a special place in some Native American calendars—as increasing warmth made it safe to bear young, an ideal period for planting crops, and a time that marked the end of late season frosts.

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