May 26, 2021 Total Lunar Eclipse: Telescopic View

Quick link to cut B-ROLL for the live shotsSuper Blood Moon: Your Questions AnsweredQuick link to canned interview in Spanish with Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Francisco Andolz B-Roll for May 2021 Supermoon Lunar Eclipse live shots Canned interview in Spanish with Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Mission Director Francisco Andolz Summer stargazing is starting off at its finest next week with a special treat - certain sky watchers will be able to catch a glimpse of a rare lunar trifecta: a “super blood moon.” Not only will this be the biggest and brightest full moon of the year, it coincides with a total lunar eclipse, where the Moon will appear red for approximately fifteen minutes. NASA experts are available virtually for live or taped interviews on <Tuesday, May 25 from 6:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. EDT to tell your viewers how they can watch this lunar double feature and share highlights of lunar science as NASA prepares to send the next generation of explorers to the Moon with the Artemis program.A supermoon is when a full Moon coincides with the closest point in the Moon's orbit, making it appear larger and brighter than normal. Next week will be the closest the Moon gets to Earth this year.A lunar eclipse occurs on a full moon when the path of the Moon's orbit takes it into Earth's shadow, shielding it from the Sun. The light of all the sunrises and sunsets on Earth are cast on the Moon, giving it the temporary reddish color. The supermoon will be visible across the United States, as well as a total lunar eclipse for those located west of the Mississippi river. Those east of the Mississippi River will see a partial eclipse. To Schedule an interview: Please fill out this form**: https://forms.gle/DaqZhy5eVbwYwYSX7**Please note: this form will close at 12:00 p.m. EDT on Monday, May 24, requests received after that time may not be accommodated.**Interviews will be conducted using video chat programs including Zoom and Skype, in 15-minute slots. For example 600-615 ET, 615-630 EDT, etc. Our preferred program is Zoom. Satellite interviews are not available. Please do not use an IFB unless necessary.*Spanish interviews are available*Participating Experts:Andrea Jones / Science CommunicatorErnie Wright / Science Visualizer Noah Petro / LRO Project ScientistMichelle Thaller / Science CommunicatorBarbara Cohen / Planetary ScientistKelsey Young / Research Space ScientistMolly Wasser / Science CommunicatorFrancisco Andolz* / LRO Mission DirectorLucas Paganini* / NASA Program Scientist*Spanish speaking talentSuggested Questions:We’ll get some excitement looking at the Moon tonight! What makes tonight's Moon so special?You said the Moon will turn red during the lunar eclipse, why is that?We sent people to the Moon with the Apollo program, now we’re going back with Artemis. What are we doing right now to get ready? How does our Moon help us better understand other planets and moons in our solar system?Where can our viewers go to learn more about the Moon? Longer Questions: NASA has been studying the Moon in incredible detail with the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter for almost 12 years. What are some of your favorite things we have learned about our Moon?How is the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter helping to usher in a new era of lunar science?A lunar eclipse must be a rough ride for a solar-powered lunar orbiter. What does the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter have to do to prepare for an eclipse?Suggested Anchor Intro:So many of us look up and watch the Moon, and tonight’s Moon is giving us a special show. The second, and also the biggest, supermoon of the year and a lunar eclipse! Here to talk about why tonight’s Moon is so special, and the ongoing effort to return humans to the Moon is NASA expert XXXX. For More InformationSee [https://moon.nasa.gov/](https://moon.nasa.gov/) Related pages

An animated map showing where the May 26, 2021 lunar eclipse is visible. A map showing where the May 26, 2021 lunar eclipse is visible. Contours mark the edge of the visibility region at eclipse contact times. The map is centered on 170&deg;15&apos;W, the sublunar longitude at mid-eclipse. Visibility of the total phase in the contiguous U.S., at 11:11 UTC. Totality can be seen everywhere in the Pacific and Mountain time zones, along with Texas, Oklahoma, western Kansas, Hawaii and Alaska. Visibility of the start of the partial phase in the contiguous U.S., at 9:45 UTC. This can be seen everywhere (including Puerto Rico) except eastern Pennsylvania, eastern Delaware, New York east of Buffalo, and the rest of New England. The mask defining the visibility region, centered at 0&deg; longitude. On May 26, 2021, during early morning in the western Americas, the Moon enters the Earth's shadow, creating a total lunar eclipse, the first in almost two and a half years. This animation shows the region of the Earth where this eclipse is visible. This region shifts to the west during the eclipse. Observers near the edge of the visibility region may see only part of the eclipse because for them, the Moon sets (on the eastern or right-hand edge) or rises (on the western or left-hand edge) while the eclipse is happening.Contour lines mark the edge of the visibility region at the contact times. These are the times when the Moon enters or leaves the umbra (the part of the Earth's shadow where the Sun is completely hidden) and penumbra (the part where the Sun is only partially blocked). For observers located on a contour line, the contact occurs at moonrise (west) or moonset (east). Related pages

Pacific Daylight Time (PDT). The Moon moves right to left, passing through the penumbra and umbra, leaving in its wake an eclipse diagram with the times at various stages of the eclipse. Universal Time (UTC). The Moon moves right to left, passing through the penumbra and umbra, leaving in its wake an eclipse diagram with the times at various stages of the eclipse. A high-resolution still image of the eclipse diagram, with times in Pacific Daylight Time (PDT). A high-resolution still image of the eclipse diagram, with times in Universal Time (UTC). As the Moon moves right to left, it passes through the Earth's penumbral and umbral shadow. The Download menu contains links to TIFF frames with and without the background stars. These include the composite transition between partial and total phases. It also links to the as-rendered EXR frames. The eclipse shadow diagram animations for both Pacific and Universal time, sped up by 5X to produce a running time of 13.2 seconds. On May 26, 2021, during early morning in the western Americas, the Moon enters the Earth's shadow, creating a total lunar eclipse, the first in almost two and a half years. This animation shows the changing appearance of the Moon as it travels into and out of the Earth's shadow, along with times at various stages. Versions of the animation have been created for both Universal Time (UTC) and Pacific Daylight Time (PDT) &mdash; within the U.S. Lower 48, those in the Pacific time zone are best situated to see the eclipse.The penumbra is the part of the Earth’s shadow where the Sun is only partially covered by the Earth. The umbra is where the Sun is completely hidden. The Moon's appearance isn't affected much by the penumbra. The real action begins when the Moon starts to disappear as it enters the umbra at about 2:45 a.m. Pacific Daylight Time. An hour and a half later, entirely within the umbra, the Moon is a ghostly copper color. For this relatively shallow eclipse, totality lasts only 15 minutes before the Moon begins to emerge from the central shadow.The view in these animations is geocentric. Because of parallax, the Moon's position against the background stars will look a bit different for observers at different locations on the surface of the Earth. The Moon is in the constellation Scorpius. The two bright stars in the upper right are ω1 and ω2 Scorpii. Related pages

The phase and libration of the Moon for 2021, at hourly intervals. Includes supplemental graphics that display the Moon's orbit, subsolar and sub-Earth points, and the Moon's distance from Earth at true scale. Craters near the terminator are labeled, as are Apollo landing sites and maria and other albedo features in sunlight. The phase and libration of the Moon for 2021, at hourly intervals. Includes music, supplemental graphics that display the Moon's orbit, subsolar and sub-Earth points, and the Moon's distance from Earth at true scale. Craters near the terminator are labeled, as are Apollo landing sites and maria and other albedo features in sunlight.Music Provided by Universal Production Music: "Nothing Can Stop Us Now" - Anders Johan Greger Lewen & Henrik Lars Wikstrom.Watch this video on the NASA Goddard YouTube channel. The phase and libration of the Moon for 2021, at hourly intervals. The higher resolution frames include an alpha channel. The orbit of the Moon in 2021, viewed from the north pole of the ecliptic, with the vernal equinox to the right. The sizes of the Earth and Moon are exaggerated by a factor of 15, 20, or 25, depending on the frame size. The frames include an alpha channel. An animated diagram of the subsolar and sub-Earth points for 2021. The Moon's north pole, equator, and meridian are indicated. The frames include an alpha channel. An animated diagram of the Moon's distance from the Earth for 2021. The sizes and distances are true to scale, and the lighting and Earth tilt are correct. The frames include an alpha channel. Feature labels. Crater labels appear when the center of the crater is within 20 degrees of the terminator (the day-night line). They are on the western edge of the crater during waxing phases (before Full Moon) and to the east during waning phases. Mare, sinus, and lacus features are labeled when in sunlight. Apollo landing site labels are always visible. The frames include an alpha channel. Waxing crescent. Visible toward the southwest in early evening. First quarter. Visible high in the southern sky in early evening. Waxing gibbous. Visible to the southeast in early evening, up for most of the night. Full Moon. Rises at sunset, high in the sky around midnight. Visible all night. Waning gibbous. Rises after sunset, high in the sky after midnight, visible to the southwest after sunrise. Third quarter. Rises around midnight, visible to the south after sunrise. Waning crescent. Low to the east before sunrise. New Moon. By the modern definition, New Moon occurs when the Moon and Sun are at the same geocentric ecliptic longitude. The part of the Moon facing us is completely in shadow then. Pictured here is the traditional New Moon, the earliest visible waxing crescent, which signals the start of a new month in many lunar and lunisolar calendars. Dial-A-Moon See also the Dial-A-Moon for the May 26 total lunar eclipse.Click on the image to download a high-resolution version with feature labels and additional graphics. Hover over the image to reveal the animation frame number, which can be used to locate and download the corresponding frame from any of the animations on this page, including unlabeled high-resolution Moon images. The data in the table for the entire year can be downloaded as a JSON file or as a text file.The animation archived on this page shows the geocentric phase, libration, position angle of the axis, and apparent diameter of the Moon throughout the year 2021, at hourly intervals. Until the end of 2021, the initial Dial-A-Moon image will be the frame from this animation for the current hour.More in this series:Moon Phase and Libration GalleryLunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) has been in orbit around the Moon since the summer of 2009. Its laser altimeter (LOLA) and camera (LROC) are recording the rugged, airless lunar terrain in exceptional detail, making it possible to visualize the Moon with unprecedented fidelity. This is especially evident in the long shadows cast near the terminator, or day-night line. The pummeled, craggy landscape thrown into high relief at the terminator would be impossible to recreate in the computer without global terrain maps like those from LRO.The Moon always keeps the same face to us, but not exactly the same face. Because of the tilt and shape of its orbit, we see the Moon from slightly different angles over the course of a month. When a month is compressed into 24 seconds, as it is in this animation, our changing view of the Moon makes it look like it's wobbling. This wobble is called libration.The word comes from the Latin for "balance scale" (as does the name of the zodiac constellation Libra) and refers to the way such a scale tips up and down on alternating sides. The sub-Earth point gives the amount of libration in longitude and latitude. The sub-Earth point is also the apparent center of the Moon's disk and the location on the Moon where the Earth is directly overhead.The Moon is subject to other motions as well. It appears to roll back and forth around the sub-Earth point. The roll angle is given by the position angle of the axis, which is the angle of the Moon's north pole relative to celestial north. The Moon also approaches and recedes from us, appearing to grow and shrink. The two extremes, called perigee (near) and apogee (far), differ by as much as 14%.The most noticed monthly variation in the Moon's appearance is the cycle of phases, caused by the changing angle of the Sun as the Moon orbits the Earth. The cycle begins with the waxing (growing) crescent Moon visible in the west just after sunset. By first quarter, the Moon is high in the sky at sunset and sets around midnight. The full Moon rises at sunset and is high in the sky at midnight. The third quarter Moon is often surprisingly conspicuous in the daylit western sky long after sunrise.Celestial north is up in these images, corresponding to the view from the northern hemisphere. The descriptions of the print resolution stills also assume a northern hemisphere orientation. (There is also a south-up version of this page.) The Moon's Orbit From this birdseye view, it's somewhat easier to see that the phases of the Moon are an effect of the changing angles of the Sun, Moon and Earth. The Moon is full when its orbit places it in the middle of the night side of the Earth. First and Third Quarter Moon occur when the Moon is along the day-night line on the Earth.The First Point of Aries is at the 3 o'clock position in the image. The Sun is in this direction at the March equinox. You can check this by freezing the animation at around the 1:03 mark, or by freezing the full animation with the time stamp near March 20. This direction serves as the zero point for both ecliptic longitude and right ascension.The north pole of the Earth is tilted 23.5 degrees toward the 12 o'clock position at the top of the image. The tilt of the Earth is important for understanding why the north pole of the Moon seems to swing back and forth. In the full animation, watch both the orbit and the "gyroscope" Moon in the lower left. The widest swings happen when the Moon is at the 3 o'clock and 9 o'clock positions. When the Moon is at the 3 o'clock position, the ground we're standing on is tilted to the left when we look at the Moon. At the 9 o'clock position, it's tilted to the right. The tilt itself doesn't change. We're just turned around, looking in the opposite direction. The subsolar and sub-Earth points are the locations on the Moon's surface where the Sun or the Earth are directly overhead, at the zenith. A line pointing straight up at one of these points will be pointing toward the Sun or the Earth. The sub-Earth point is also the apparent center of the Moon's disk as observed from the Earth.In the animation, the blue dot is the sub-Earth point, and the yellow cone is the subsolar point. The lunar latitude and longitude of the sub-Earth point is a measure of the Moon's libration. For example, when the blue dot moves to the left of the meridian (the line at 0 degrees longitude), an extra bit of the Moon's western limb is rotating into view, and when it moves above the equator, a bit of the far side beyond the north pole becomes visible.At any given time, half of the Moon is in sunlight, and the subsolar point is in the center of the lit half. Full Moon occurs when the subsolar point is near the center of the Moon's disk. When the subsolar point is somewhere on the far side of the Moon, observers on Earth see a crescent phase. The Moon's orbit around the Earth isn't a perfect circle. The orbit is slightly elliptical, and because of that, the Moon's distance from the Earth varies between 28 and 32 Earth diameters, or about 356,400 and 406,700 kilometers. In each orbit, the smallest distance is called perigee, from Greek words meaning "near earth," while the greatest distance is called apogee. The Moon looks largest at perigee because that's when it's closest to us.The animation follows the imaginary line connecting the Earth and the Moon as it sweeps around the Moon's orbit. From this vantage point, it's easy to see the variation in the Moon's distance. Both the distance and the sizes of the Earth and Moon are to scale in this view. In the HD-resolution frames, the Earth is 50 pixels wide, the Moon is 14 pixels wide, and the distance between them is about 1500 pixels, on average.Note too that the Earth appears to go through phases just like the Moon does. For someone standing on the surface of the Moon, the Sun and the stars rise and set, but the Earth doesn't move in the sky. It goes through a monthly sequence of phases as the Sun angle changes. The phases are the opposite of the Moon's. During New Moon here, the Earth is full as viewed from the Moon. The Named PhasesThe following is a gallery containing examples of each of the Moon phases that have names in English. New, full, and quarter phases occur on specific days, while crescent and gibbous phases are the transitions between these points and span multiple days. The quarters are so named because they occur when the Moon is one fourth or three fourths of the way through its cycle of phases. Many people find this confusing, though, since visually they are half moons. It might be helpful to remember that the visible half of the Moon's disk is really only one quarter of its spherical surface. Related pages