Mark the date November 8, 2022 for this spectacle in Big Sky Country.   

Have you ever looked up at the sky and felt incredibly small?? Yeah, same. For me to watch the moon and stars, it makes me just grateful for my vision. It makes me feel a sense of calm. I've seen many shooting stars in my days, and many other phenomena, but this one is my favorite to watch.

Credit: Gary Boyle
Credit: Gary Boyle
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The next total lunar eclipse is coming up my starlings! This is the last total lunar eclipse for three years, so you could say this is a very special celestial event.  

An eclipse occurs when the sun and the moon align with Earth.

The moon passes through Earth’s shadow creating a reddish tint to the moon. It’s all about the refracted light from the sun, and the most powerful color in the spectrum of light during a lunar eclipse is red.  

Have you ever watched an eclipse? It makes me feel like I'm extra-terrestrial, observing from another planet. It brings me out of my body. I can’t wait to witness this from Billings.  

It depends on exactly where you’re located on Earth to see the full eclipse, but it will be visible in our night sky here in Montana if weather permits.  

According to Gary Boyle, an astronomy educator, “the eclipse begins: 2:09 a.m. Moon enters the earth’s shadow. Total lunar eclipse begins: 3:16 a.m. Moon turns dark orange or red.
Greatest eclipse: 3:59 a.m. Mid-point of the eclipse.
Total lunar eclipse ends: 4:41 a.m. Moon begins to leave the shadow.
Partial umbral eclipse ends: 5:49 a.m. Moon exits earth’s shadow.” 

Credit: Gary Boyle
Credit: Gary Boyle
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The coolest thing about Gary is that he got an asteroid named after him for all the work he’s put into educating the public about the cosmos.  

Credit: Gary Boyle
Credit: Gary Boyle
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You won’t need any equipment to witness this event, but a telescope and binoculars do help to see the reddish tint to the moon. If you’re an early bird like me who wakes up at 3 am every day, then take a moment to watch La Luna do her thang.

Maybe you can set an alarm and wake up for a few minutes to catch it here in Magic City since it’s the last one for three years!  

If you happen to get photos of it, send them our way.

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