The full moon will be covered in a blood-red shadow during a total lunar eclipse directly over Wyoming just after midnight March 14.
The moon will pass between the Earth and the sun, darkening its bright surface, and Wyomingites are in a perfect position to take it all in.
The peak of the total lunar eclipse will happen at 12:58 a.m., but the eclipse itself will be an all-night event, which means there will be plenty of opportunities for getting photos — provided the weather cooperates.
Pinedale photographer Dave Bell plans to check in on the celestial event periodically that night, even if he won’t be in Wyoming to do it.
“I’ll be at Ponce Inlet on the east coast of Florida,” he said. “I’ve got a little scouting to do before I shoot.”
It doesn’t take an expert to see and get great photographs of a total lunar eclipse. All that’s needed is timing and clear skies, Bell said.
“They’re a piece of cake,” Bell said. “It’s a little like watching grass grow, and you’ll need to plan on being up late, but watching the whole thing unfold is a great experience.”
Shadow Moon
Total lunar eclipses are more common than total solar eclipses. While the last total solar eclipse visible in Wyoming was in 2017, followed by a partial solar eclipse last year, there were two total lunar eclipses in 2022.
Max Gilbraith, planetarium coordinator at the University of Wyoming, said lunar and solar eclipses are cyclical. This lunar eclipse will be followed by a partial solar eclipse on March 29.
“The same full moon in that lunar month we had goes around and becomes a partial solar eclipse just two weeks later,” he said. “The cycle can be back-to-back or off-set by six months. In this case, the alignment will drift a bit so the solar eclipse will be partial rather than total.”
Unfortunately, nobody in Wyoming will see the partial solar eclipse. Based on its path of totality, the only places to see it would be the east coast of Quebec, Canada.
Lunar and solar eclipses happen with the same frequency, but solar eclipses are much less visible because the shadow cast by the moon is much smaller and it has to be in a precise position to block the sun completely. The next solar eclipse visible in Wyoming, which will only be partial, won’t happen until July 3, 2084.
“With eclipses, you can either stand in one spot and get one every 400 years, or you can make a little effort and travel to see them and catch one every nine months or so,” Gilbraith said.
Meanwhile, there can be two to three partial or total lunar eclipses in a single year. They occur when the Earth is positioned directly between the sun and a full moon.
“The moon has to be opposite of the sun to get into the Earth’s shadow,” Gilbraith said. “There are many opportunities for that to happen in a calendar year.”
Wyoming Viewing Guide
The first stage of next week’s total lunar eclipse, called the penumbral stage, will begin around 9:57 p.m. on Thursday, March 13. That’s when the Earth’s shadow will start creeping across the moon's surface.
“It’s actually dimming the moon, and the moon’s already safe to view with the naked eye,” Gilbraith said. “I like to use binoculars or a telescope during a lunar eclipse, because watching the advancing shadow across the moon is quite cool.”
The eclipse will reach the partial stage at 11:09 p.m. The full moon will look like a half-moon by this point, and there won’t be any change in its color.
The eclipse’s totality will last around 65 minutes, peaking at 12:58 a.m. Friday. That’s when the moon will be fully immersed in the blood-red shadow of the Earth.
From there, the moon will go through the partial and penumbral stages in the opposite direction. By 4 a.m., it’ll look like a regular full moon again.
“Sometime, the moon exits the eclipse a little faster since it’s doing a glancing pass through the Earth’s shadow,” Gilbraith said. “This eclipse is centered on Wyoming’s longitude, so there should be plenty of time on either side of its peak.”
Boring Blood Moon
Bell might be shooting the lunar eclipse from Florida rather than Wyoming, but one thing won’t change: he’s not going to make the moon the sole subject of his shots.
“Having something else in the shot makes it more interesting,” he said. “Eight years ago, I shot a lunar eclipse south of Pinedale with a drilling rig below it. I think having something else in the shot makes it better than only having the moon.”
Whether someone’s a professional photographer or just looking for a social media shot, Bell’s photography advice is the same. Shooting a lunar eclipse requires patience — and a tripod.
“It’s an easy shot, from a camera perspective,” he said. “Because it happens slowly, you have time to think about what you want to do on the fly, but you can still look at it and not worry about hurting your eyeballs.”
Bell recommends a mirrorless camera lens with a higher aperture setting and slower shutter speed to catch the most lunar detail during the lunar eclipse. Smartphones have limitations on aperture and shutter speed, but settings can be tweaked to get the most with the technology.
Tripods, meanwhile, are a no-brainer for anybody. Lunar eclipses take their time, and holding up a phone for photos makes arms shaky and tiresome.
Bell said featuring a natural or architectural feature in the same shot keeps everything sharp and focused. He’s hoping the Ponce Inlet lighthouse will provide an interesting addition to his lunar eclipse photo shoot.
“I really want to see the lighthouse flashing below the moon,” he said. “I want to capture a light flare beside or above the moon while it traverses the sky with the lighthouse in the foreground. That’s what I’m hoping for.”
When The Moon Hits Your Eye
Viewing a total solar eclipse requires precise location and timing and several safety precautions, like solar glasses or pinhole projectors, to view it safely. Lunar eclipses, by contrast, are entirely safe and easy to see, although timing still matters.
“The beauty of a lunar eclipse is you don't have to wear the special glasses,” Bell said. “You can look straight up at it and gauge its location as the eclipse unfolds.”
Gilbraith said the full moon will be fairly high in the sky that night. Most Wyomingites should have a clear view, regardless of their elevation.
“Unless you’re camping in Cascade Canyon, I think you’ll be fine,” he said. “This one’s passing pretty squarely over Wyoming, so everyone will get a good view of it.”
The only variable that can’t be accounted for is the weather. The eclipse might be spectacular from Wyoming, but it won’t matter if it’s overcast that night.
“I hope it’s not cloudy,” Bell said. “I’m very hopeful it won’t be, but you don’t know what the weather’s gonna do.”
Andrew Rossi can be reached at arossi@cowboystatedaily.com.
