Nearly A Blood Moon: When To See The Deep Lunar Eclipse In IL

The full sturgeon moon later this week won’t be a true “blood moon,” but it’ll come close, giving Illinoisans a chance to see the rare phenomenon if the weather cooperates.

This week’s event is called a “deep lunar eclipse,” and about 96 percent of the moon will pass through Earth’s dark shadow, or umbra.

The eclipse will be visible across the United States, with the best timing in the western half of the country because the deepest part of the eclipse happens earlier in the evening there.

The weather forecast for Thursday and Friday calls for warm weather and mostly clear, sunny skies.

When To Watch

Some partial lunar eclipses barely nick the moon.

In September 2024, for example, only a small sliver of the moon entered the umbra. This week’s eclipse should be more dramatic, with nearly all of the moon passing into Earth’s dark shadow at maximum eclipse.

The eclipse itself lasts more than five and a half hours. The best views occur around 11:12 p.m. CDT on Thursday, Aug. 27.

For people who want to watch the whole thing, the moon will begin entering Earth’s darker shadow beginning at 9:33 p.m. CDT on Aug. 27, reaching maximum eclipse at 11:42 p.m. CDT, and leaving the shadow by 12:52 a.m. CDT.

It’s Also A Sturgeon Moon

Native American peoples called August’s full moon the sturgeon moon because the giant freshwater fish were once especially abundant and readily caught in late summer in the Great Lakes and Lake Champlain, according to The Old Farmer’s Almanac.

The term isn’t universal among Native American tribes. Other names for the August full moon include the Green Corn Moon and Grain Moon.

Once Seen As An Omen

Folklore surrounding lunar eclipses often casts the darkening or reddening moon as a sign of trouble brewing in the heavens.

Across cultures, eclipses have been blamed on dragons, wolves, jaguars, serpents and other creatures said to be swallowing or attacking the moon. Some traditions called for beating drums, shouting or making other noise to scare the creature away, while others viewed the red “blood moon” as an omen of war, death, famine or political upheaval.

Other beliefs focus on protection and purification. In some traditions, pregnant women were warned not to watch an eclipse or were told to carry charms or metal objects, while some people fasted, discarded food or bathed afterward. Despite the differences, many eclipse traditions share a common idea: The normal order of the sky has been temporarily disrupted, and rituals can protect people or help restore it.

When To See It Again

The next total lunar eclipse, on Dec. 31, 2028, will be visible in totality from Alaska and Hawaii, while parts of the western continental United States will see only partial or penumbral phases. North America gets another total lunar eclipse on June 25-26, 2029, followed by a third on Dec. 20, 2029, although viewing of totality during the December eclipse will vary by location.

That isn’t actually an unusual number of total lunar eclipses in a normal year. Lunar eclipses occur in roughly six-month cycles, and in this stretch the geometry lines up for three consecutive eclipse seasons to produce total eclipses.