Partial lunar eclipse wows White Rock and South Surrey

White Rock and South Surrey residents were among billions around the world who had a chance to see Thursday night’s partial lunar eclipse. Social-media posts described the event as beautiful, amazing and magical.

The “very deep” eclipse came two weeks after the Aug. 12 total solar eclipse. According to timeanddate.com and NASA’s Scientific Visualization Studio, 96.3 per cent of the Moon entered Earth’s central shadow, or umbra, giving it a coppery appearance.

Photographer Julia Michel said trees initially hid the Moon from her location, but it appeared near the end and she was able to take several pictures. White Rock resident Tom Kirstein photographed the final phase from a dark Marine Drive location. The Canadian Space Agency says lunar eclipses are among the easiest astronomical phenomena to observe because no special equipment is needed.

Timeanddate.com said about 12 per cent of the world’s population, slightly fewer than one billion people, could see the Aug. 27 eclipse from beginning to end. NASA says the eclipse is part of Saros 13; eclipses in the series are separated by 18 years, 11 days and eight hours. The previous one occurred Aug. 16, 2008, and the next is Sept. 7, 2044.