The moon over Calgary’s going to look “like a basketball in space” Thursday evening, an expert local lecturer says. As Thursday’s lunar eclipse takes hold and the moon darkens under Earth’s shadow, Stephen Jeans says it will look less flat and more details will show. Stars around the moon will also be more visible, he says. Jeans, who lectures about Earth and space sciences at Mount Royal and Ambrose universities, says it will be “very beautiful.” And he says we can take it all in. “A solar eclipse is when the sun is blocked out from the Earth. A lunar eclipse is when the moon is darkened by the shadow of the Earth,” he said. “A solar eclipse is something you’re told not to look at with the naked eye. “But a lunar eclipse you can look at any time you want with the naked eye, and it’s not going to harm you at all.” Jeans expects Calgary’s “going to have an extremely good view of it.” While Thursday’s lunar eclipse is technically a partial one, it’s pretty close to full. About 94 per cent of the moon will be covered, Jeans says. “You’ll be able to see the curvature of the Earth—the shape of the shadow of the Earth—as it moves across the face of the moon,” he said. Jeans says the best thing for people to do is find a clear view east-southeast. In Calgary, he says we’ll miss most of the penumbral phase, but the show will come above the horizon around 9 p.m. By 9:45 p.m., he says it’ll “be getting really dark” as the umbra’s at “full blast.” He says it’ll reach its peak a little after 10 p.m., and there will be “about half an hour” of “some really nice viewing.” The Royal Astronomical Society of Canada offered smartphone astrophotography tips Thursday morning on social media. According to RASC, the devices struggle to capture the visual “because they automatically try to overexpose the dark night sky.” It says that will turn the moon “into a blurry, white, overexposed blob.” “Tap the Moon on your phone screen to lock the focus,” RASC wrote on Facebook. “Slide your finger down on the screen to lower the exposure slider until you can see the dark red details of the eclipse. “For the sharpest shot, prop your phone against a solid surface or use a tripod to eliminate hand shakiness during the long exposure.” Jeans says Thursday’s lunar eclipse is “perfect for families.” He hopes kids will be allowed to stay up to catch it. He says he remembers seeing his first one when he was a kid and that it raised “many a question.”
