Next Week A Risky Solar Eclipse Will Set-Up A ‘Fireball Blood Moon’ For North America

Are you ready for another solar eclipse? One kind or another occurs on our planet every six months or so and the next one is coming right up. On Tuesday, October 25, 2022 the Moon will partially eclipse up to 82% of the Sun.

That last happened for South America on April 30, 2022 (unless you count one seen in space in July by a NASA spacecraft) when up to 54% of the Sun was blocked by the Moon. It was most easily seen just before sunset from the Pacific coast of Chile.

Next week’s event is also a partial solar eclipse, though where you are on our planet is crucial to what you will see—if anything. Visible only from Greenland, Europe, northeast Africa, central Asia and India, the point of maximum eclipse is near Nizhnevartovsk in Siberia, Russia where precisely 82% of the Sun will be eclipsed by the Moon. From Western Europe it will appear around 15-30% eclipsed.

The eclipse will begin at 8:58 Universal Time (UT) on Tuesday, October 25, 2022 when the New Moon will appear to cross the Sun. At 11:00 UT it will reach maximum obscuration of 82% in Russia with the Moon moving away from the Sun at 13:02 UT.

The entire event will last for just over four hours.

London will see just 15% of the Sun blocked by the Moon at 10:59 local time while Helsinki, Finland will see 53% at 13:21, Almaty in Kazakhstan 69% at 17:35 and Mumbai, India 24% at 17:42.

Why is this eclipse “risky?” The event will only be safely viewable using special solar eclipse glasses—which most people don’t have—or though binoculars or telescopes fitted with special solar filters on the objective lenses (NEVER look at a partial solar eclipse with the naked eye and NEVER put solar eclipse glasses in front of a pair of binoculars or a telescope).

(Never look at the Sun without proper eye protection except during the total phase of a total solar eclipse.)

For Americans who will miss out on this solar eclipse the event still has some significance. Although it won’t be possible to see any of the Sun eclipsed by the Moon on this occasion, it does indicate the beginning of an eclipse season.

The event puts the Moon in position to cause a total lunar eclipse in two weeks on November 8—one that will be observable from most of North America.

That’s because a solar eclipse happens about two weeks before or after a lunar eclipse. When there’s a total solar eclipse there’s usually a partial (or even slighter penumbral) lunar eclipse either before or after. When there’s a partial solar eclipse there’s always a total lunar eclipse—also known as a “Blood Moon”—before or after.

This time the latter applies. The final of two total lunar eclipses in 2022, the events of November 8, 2022 promise to be spectacular. Most easily seen from western and central U.S. states as well as from the Pacific, Japan, Australia and Russia, during the event the full “Beaver Moon” will turn a spectacular reddish color for 84 minutes.

It will be the final total lunar eclipse visible from North America until 2025 and won’t be topped in terms of duration until a 102 minute totality on June 26, 2029. During the event viewers may also be able to not only see the planet Uranus just above the eclipsed Moon, but also bright “shooting stars” from the Southern Taurid and Northern Taurid meteor showers, which peak a couple of nights prior and post, respectively. Seeing a “fireball” meteor during the totality of a “Blood Moon” may be possible.

Do return to my page soon for more information on both the partial solar eclipse and the total lunar eclipse—I’ll have expert information on viewing and photographing both events.

Disclaimer: I am the editor of WhenIsTheNextEclipse.com and author of The Complete Guide To The Great North American Eclipse of April 8, 2024.

Wishing you clear skies and wide eyes.

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