ST. LOUIS — A total lunar eclipse occurs early Wednesday morning. However, with added cloud cover and rain chances, the odds of capturing this phenomenon in the St. Louis area will be slim.
A lunar eclipse occurs as the moon passes through the earth’s shadow, which is possible only if the moon is at its full phase.
After 4:44 a.m. Wednesday, the moon will begin entering the dark core of earth’s shadow. As the moon moves into this part of our shadow, the side we see from Earth will start to grow dark. Unfortunately here in the St. Louis area, we will not see the moon fully enter earth’s shadow because the moon will set below the horizon before this occurs at 6:11 a.m. By the time we see the moon setting, it will be about 80% eclipsed.
With showers through the overnight hours and clouds lingering into Wednesday morning, it is unlikely most of us will have a chance to even see the partial lunar eclipse. The forecast in St. Louis for Wednesday morning is cloudy with a 30%-50% of rain.
The next lunar eclipse will be later this year in November. That lunar eclipse occurs in the evening on Nov. 19 and it will be a partial eclipse.
