Updraft® - Minnesota Weather News

Sky Show: Total lunar eclipse dazzles Wednesday

Get ready for an astronomical treat in the pre-dawn sky Wednesday.

The second total lunar eclipse of 2014 will dazzle onlookers in Minnesota and most of the USA.

1006 lunar-eclipse-8-oct-2014-map
NASA/space.com

Wednesday's eclipse could feature another blood red moon as sunlight refracts through the earth's atmosphere onto the darkened moon surface.

The eclipse will happen between 4:14 a.m. and 7:35 a.m. Minneapolis time. Totality occurs for about an hour, between 5:25 am and 6:24 am.

1006 total-lunar-eclipse-oct-8-2014
NASA

Wednesday's lunar eclipse is the second of 4 total lunar eclipses in two years. The cluster is called a tetrad.

1006 tetrad
space.com

The good news? Skies should be clear Wednesday morning over most of Minnesota. This will be a rare treat, with the moon setting in the west as the sun rises in the east.

1006 ecl2
NASA/space.com

Overall October is a good one for sky watchers. A partial solar eclipse occurs on Oct. 23 and will be visible in Minnesota.

Enjoy!