Oct. 8, 2014 Lunar Eclipse

April 15, 2014 lunar eclipse over Madison, seen from Maple Bluff.

April 15, 2014 lunar eclipse over Madison, seen from Maple Bluff. More photos.

Update (Oct. 8): I snapped some pictures of this morning’s lunar eclipse. You can see them in my Flickr gallery.

Original post: I’m looking forward to our second total lunar eclipse of the year tomorrow morning (Oct. 8). Fortunately, the forecast for Madison calls for clear skies, so we’ll hopefully have a great view of the eclipse.

Here in Madison, timing for the eclipse looks like this:

  • 4:14 a.m. – Lunar eclipse begins (partial eclipse)
  • 5:24 – Total lunar eclipse begins
  • 5:54 – Maximum lunar eclipse
  • 6:24 – Total lunar eclipse ends (partial eclipse)
  • 6:33 – Dawn (civil twilight)
  • 7:03 – Sunrise
  • 7:08 – Moonset

In Madison, the moon will sink lower and lower in the western sky during the eclipse, so you’ll want to find a spot with a good view of the western horizon for the best view of the eclipse.

Folks out on the west coast will be able to see the entire eclipse, and it will be higher in the sky. For those outside of Madison, you can use the links below to find when the eclipse will be visible.

We’ll have another total lunar eclipse next September; after that, the next total lunar eclipse visible in North America will be in 2019. (You may have heard about another total lunar eclipse next April, but for that event, we will only see a partial eclipse before moonset here in Madison.)

Watching online

If you’re outside Madison and haven’t lucked out with the clear forecast we have, you can check out the eclipse online.

NASA will host a live webcast of the lunar eclipse starting at 3 a.m. CDT. NASA’s webcast will include a chat with the space agency’s moon experts.

Slooh.com is also hosting a webcast of the eclipse, beginning at 4 a.m.

The west rooftop camera at UW-Madison’s Space Science & Engineering Center should also capture the lunar eclipse. Live video and photos available here (under “Live Video” section).

More resources