Lunar Eclipse 2021 – live: ‘Longest eclipse in 580 years’ coinciding with ‘blood’ Beaver Moon begins
Follow the spectacle live
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.The Moon is about to fall into the Earth’s shadow for the longest duration since the 15th Century, offering stargazers a unique opportunity to observe a lunar eclipse.
The celestial spectacle coincides with the Full Moon, traditionally known as the Beaver Moon by Native American tribes, and will be visible across large parts of the globe, including North America and partially in the UK.
The near-total eclipse will peak for 3 hours and 28 minutes on the night of the 18-19 November, beginning at 9.02am GMT.
The full passing of the Full Moon – which itself peaks at 8.57am GMT – through Earth’s shadow will last more than six hours.
The whole event will be visible across the US but the arrival of the Sun on Friday morning will prevent people in the UK from seeing the latter half of it.
You can follow all the latest Moon action right here.
How record-breaking really is this record-breaking solar eclipse?
This is a useful reminder from Nasa that while this is the longer partial eclipse in a very long time, that doesn’t mean that you’ve necessarily missed out, if you didn’t get to see it:
“It’s actually the longest partial lunar eclipse in a millennium, clocking in at 3 hours, 28 minutes and 23 seconds. There hasn’t been a longer partial lunar eclipse since February 18, 1440 (3 hours, 28 minutes, 46 seconds) and it will remain the longest partial lunar eclipse for 648 years until February 8, 2669 (3 hours, 30 minutes, and 2 seconds). There will be a longertotal lunar eclipse on November 8, 2022.
- Partial lunar eclipse of February 18, 1440: 3:28:46
- Partial lunar eclipse of November 18/19, 2021: 3:28:23
- Partial lunar eclipse of February 8, 2669, 3:30:02”
More images arrive of ‘blood moon'
As the lunar eclipse passes, new pictures are being posted of the bloody red Moon. Here are some of them:
Half an hour left of partial eclipse
There’s exactly half an hour until the partial eclipse ends. Now’s the time to get a look at it – though it won’t be as dramatic as it was, you might still be able to see some of the effect.
If you’ve missed this one, don’t worry
If you’ve missed today’s lunar eclipse*, don’t worry. This might be the longest partial eclipse in a millennium, but there are many that are – and other bigger total eclipses, too.
Here’s some solace from Nasa:
* It’s not fully over yet – if you’ve still got a chance to get a look, you might be able to see the Moon with a bit of a chunk taken out of it.
Subscribe to our weekly email
Like to keep up to date with all the latest tech news? Then sign up to our free weekly IndyTech newsletter for updates and analysis on everything from the state of the International Space Station to latest news on Bitcoin. To sign up click here and scroll down to the tech icon.
Red colour goes
That’s it for the blood moon part of the lunar eclipse: the red colour has now gone.
(As below, that doesn’t mean the whole thing is over, not by any means. The partial eclipse won’t last for another 90 minutes, and the “penumbral eclipse” means that it won’t officially end until just over an hour after that.)
Five minutes of redness left
In about five minutes, the Moon will have moved on, out of the Earth’s “umbra” and therefore will no longer appear red. Now is the time to get a peak. (And now is better than in five minutes; the redness fades as we move away from the peak.)
If you miss it, don’t worry: the red colour isn’t the only thing about the lunar eclipse. After it’s over, the Moon will still look like it has had a bite taken out of it.
Images begin to arrive
If you can’t see the red moon where you are, don’t worry – there’ll be plenty of pictures. (Or you could watch the live feed above.)
Some are starting to arrive:
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments