Cloud cover spoils total lunar eclipse viewing in Philadelphia area
PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- For the first time since 2022, stargazers had the chance to see a total lunar eclipse in the early morning hours on Friday. However, cloud coverage in the Philadelphia area spoiled the event for most of the region.
Experts said one of the great things about a lunar eclipse is that people don't need special glasses or equipment to see the eclipse if there is no cloud coverage.
"This is something that anyone can experience with just the telescopes that they are born with -- their eyes," Deborah Skapik, an adjunct professor in the physics and astronomy department at St. Joe's University, told Action News on Thursday afternoon.
Action News viewer John DiMichael was able to capture and amazing photo of blood moon in Dunmore, Pennsylvania.
A lunar eclipse happens when the sun, Earth and moon line up in just the right configuration.
The Earth casts a shadow that can partially or totally block out the Moon.
Skapik, who is also trained in eclipse education, explained the science behind this celestial phenomenon.
RELATED: 'Blood moon' total lunar eclipse set to appear tonight: What to expect
"The moon will be moving into its full phase. And when it does that, it's going to be moving into the Earth's shadow," she said. "So the sunlight is being cast over the Earth, and the Earth's shadow is being cast onto the moon."
Stray bits of sunlight filter through Earth's atmosphere and bend toward the moon, making it look red. That gives the spectacle its nickname: the blood moon.
The moon began to disappear into Earth's shadow around 1 a.m. on Friday. The eclipse reached totality between 2:26 a.m. and 3:31 a.m. Friday morning.
"Unfortunately by then, the clouds will have taken over," Action News Chief Meteorologist Cecily Tynan explained during Thursday evening's newscast.
While people in the Philadelphia area had issues viewing the eclipse, the 6abc weather team said people in the Allentown and Reading areas were in the clear to see it.
The next total lunar eclipse will happen in March of next year.
"It unifies us because we're all underneath the same sun and moon. The entire hemisphere of Earth can see this," Skapik said.
The next total lunar eclispe will be on March 3, 2026.
History of eclipses
Civilizations have viewed and interpreted lunar eclipses for thousands of years. Ancient people knew more about the celestial bodies than we give them credit for, said historian Zoe Ortiz.
"They were looking at the night sky and they had a much brighter vision than we do today," said Ortiz with the University of North Texas.
Aristotle noticed that the shadow the Earth cast on the moon during a lunar eclipse was always curved, observations proving that the Earth is round.
And a civilization in ancient Mesopotamia saw the blood-red moon as a bad omen for the king. The people installed a substitute king on the throne around the time of the eclipse to protect their ruler from any bad will.
"If there's ever a movie plot," said Ortiz, "that's the one."
