Moon over Okanagan to turn red during total lunar eclipse

Mar 13, 2025 | 6:00 AM

A total lunar eclipse will turn the moon red over the Okanagan.

James Kanester, a representative of the Okanagan branch of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada, said the shadow of the earth will fall on the moon overnight Thursday, March 13.

The penumbra, or partial shadow, will start moving across the face of the moon starting at 8:57 p.m.

At 10:10 p.m., the umbra, or inner, darker shadow, will cross the heavenly body, with the moon fully ensconced in shadow by 11:26 p.m.

Weather permitting, people will be able to face southeast and see the potentially red moon.

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“It depends on how much clouds there are at the edges of earth and the light from the sun coming through that cloud can make the shadow on the moon various colours,” Kanester told Vernon Matters.

“It can be really blood red if you have no actual clouds, but it could be less and more of a grey colour. So you can get different kinds of colours. Every lunar eclipse is slightly different.”

Kanester said astronomers call these types of eclipses a “blood moon.”

“It may not quite be the colour of blood, but it will be quite red,” the Astronomical Society representative said.

“Usually you get quite a red colour.”

The umbra will cover the moon until about 12:31 a.m. Friday, March 14, when it will be out of the full eclipse and back into the penumbra, which will pass by 3 a.m.

The eclipse will be visible with the naked eye, even in the city centres, though Kanester had some recommendations for where people could watch the shadow fall on the moon.

“If you look down the Coldstream valley, if you’ve got that view, that’s the ideal spot,” he said.

“If you’re up high, say up on the Commonage, that would be a good place to see it from. Up on Silver Star or somewhere like that high up is good because you get the best view.But you’re going to see it [basically anywhere you can face southeast].”

Kanester told Vernon Matters having this eclipse happen relatively early in the Okanagan is good for spectators.

“North America has the prime view [for this eclipse] because in some places the moon will be rising and the eclipse will already have started, or in other places it will be going down during the eclipse. North America has the full eclipse, that’s one of the good things here,” Kanester explained.

“Often, what I’ve seen, is they’ve been rising already in eclipse and we watch it come out of eclipse. So, this one here, we get to see it go into eclipse, and you can go to bed at a reasonable hour and let the rest of the eclipse go until 3 a.m.”

He added it will be the only lunar eclipse of 2025, though there will be two in 2026.

by Liam Verster

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