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Get Up Early At High Altitude To See Blood Moon In Rivertowns

WESTCHESTER COUNTY, N.Y. -- Experts from the Hudson River Museum’s planetarium say Westchester residents should wake up early and be in a place of high altitude to see the blood moon eclipse on Wednesday morning, Oct. 8.

Wednesday's blood moon eclipse is the second in a series of four eclipses that will occur in a two-year period

Wednesday's blood moon eclipse is the second in a series of four eclipses that will occur in a two-year period

Photo Credit: National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)

“If people are looking they'll have to get up pretty early to see it, but it should be beautiful,” Marc Taylor, manager of the planetarium and science programs at the Hudson River Museum in Yonkers, told Daily Voice. 

“It will be a more intense color than a regular lunar eclipse. It can look a little orange or a little red. Sometimes it can look like Mars, with some areas looking white and other brown and red.”

Taylor said the pre-Halloween blood moon should be visible around 5:20 a.m. when the full moon passes into the Earth’s shadow. This causes a darkening of the face of the moon. The blood moon’s scarlet glow occurs when it reflects light from the sun that is shining through Earth’s atmosphere.

“In order to see it here (in Westchester) you’ll have to go somewhere pretty high up on the western horizon,” said Taylor.

“If you’re looking across the Hudson River, it could be blocked by the Palisades. Someone who works at Ridge Hill (in Yonkers) and gets to the top of its parking garage would be able to see it. Any place in general with a clear view on a hill without a building or something obstructing the view should be able to see it.”

Some stargazers are concerned that undesirable weather may ruin the view of Wednesday’s cosmic wonder. Taylor says the view of the blood moon eclipse will depend on the number of clouds in the earth’s atmosphere.

Wednesday’s event is the second in a tetrad of four total eclipses of the moon over a two-year period. According to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s (NASA) website, the first occurred on April 15, the third will occur on April 4, 2015 with the final total eclipse in the tetrad on Sept. 28, 2015. 

"The most unique thing about the 2014-2015 tetrad is that all of them are visible from all or parts of the USA," said NASA eclipse expert Fred Espenak, in a post on NASA’s website.

Sky watchers may also be able to catch a glimpse of a celestial rarity known as a “selenelion,” or horizontal eclipse, on Wednesday which occurs when the total eclipse of the moon happens at the same time the sun rises and both are visible just above the horizon at opposite points in the sky.                                         

Will you be watching the blood moon eclipse? Send your photos to dsciortino@dailyvoice.com and we’ll share them with you neighbors.

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