This year has been full of partial lunar eclipses, but the longest one of this century is on the horizon.
According to NASA, a three hour and 28 minute partial lunar eclipse will take place on Nov. 18 and 19 and people across the world will simply have to walk outside to catch a glimpse.
Night gazers on the east coast of the U.S. will be able to catch the event from 2 to 4 a.m. ET, according to NASA. Those on the west coast can look up at the sky between 11 p.m. until 1 a.m. PT.
The eclipse also will be visible to people in North and South America, Eastern Asia, Australia, and the Pacific Region.
The partial lunar eclipse will accompany this month’s full moon, also know as the frost moon, according to NASA. The frost moon, which got its name due to the frost that occurs at the end of the fall, is the last full moon of autumn and was originally coined by Native American tribes, according to the Maine Farmer’s Almanac.
Although not as spectacular as a full lunar eclipse where the moon is completely blacked out by the Earth’s shadow, this partial eclipse will block out 97% of the moon’s surface.
While only 97% of the moon will be covered, there are still plenty more things to look out for during your nighttime gaze. NASA says the Pleiades star cluster and the brightest star in the sky – known as Sirius – will be visible in the Northern Hemisphere.
This is the last lunar eclipse of the year and the longest between 2001 and 2100. People can expect to see 20 total, partial and penumbral eclipses between 2021 and 2030 and 228 over the next 80 years.
In case it’s a little too cold outside that night, NASA will be live streaming the event here.
Follow reporter Asha Gilbert @Coastalasha. Email: agilbert@usatoday.com.
