Breckenridge Texan

If the skies are clear on Wednesday morning, May 26, Stephens County residents could have a chance to see the eclipse of the Super Flower Blood Moon. Breckenridge Texan Publisher Tony Pilkington got a shot of the moon coming up over downtown Tuesday evening.

The eclipse is scheduled to begin at about 4:45 a.m., local time, but it will reach totality – the period of time when all of the moon’s surface is blanketed by the Earth’s dark shadow – will happen between 6:11 and 6:26 a.m., according to the NASA “Watch the Skies” blog. The moon sets at 6:36 a.m. on Wednesday, so the moon will be situated just above the horizon in the west-southwest sky at the time of the eclipse totality.

According to the blog, the May full moon was named the “Flower Moon” by early Native Americans because this was the time of year when spring flowers appeared in abundance. Since this moon is also at or near its closest point to Earth at the same time as it is full, it is called a “supermoon.” During this event, because the full moon is a little bit closer to Earth than usual, it appears especially large and bright in the sky, NASA reports.

The moon gets the added description of “blood moon” because during the eclipse, it will take on a reddish hue. A total lunar eclipse occurs when the moon passes completely through the Earth’s dark shadow, or umbra. According to NASA, it’s been almost two and a half years since the last total lunar eclipse, and there hasn’t been a total lunar eclipse combined with a supermoon in about six years. The next total lunar eclipse will be visible here a year from now, in May 2022.

 
Cutline, top photo: The May 2021 Super Flower Blood Moon was shining bright over downtown Breckenridge on Tuesday evening. A lunar eclipse will be in totality from 6:11 to 6:26 a.m. Wednesday, May 26. (Photo by Tony PIlkington/Breckenridge Texan)