and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair:

July 26, 2018 10:41 PM

Blood Moon 2018: Longest Total Lunar Eclipse of Century Occurs July 27. The longest eclipse of the century will be visible from Europe, Africa and the Middle East, as well as parts of Asia, Australia and South America. Lunar Eclipse 2018 Guide: When, Where
posted by the man of twists and turns (17 comments total)

America is being denied the power of the Blood Moon. This is our punishment.
posted by The Whelk at 10:53 PM on July 26, 2018 [13 favorites]

If it's any consolation, I have the option of getting up at like 4:00 to see part of it, and totality happens after the moon dips below the horizon for me. : \
posted by DoctorFedora at 11:07 PM on July 26, 2018

The last article says Melbourne stupidly early in the morning. But, it's the 27th here now. Did I miss it then, or is it really tomorrow?
posted by pompomtom at 11:43 PM on July 26, 2018

It's (very early) tomorrow if you're in the eastern hemisphere, basically
posted by DoctorFedora at 11:57 PM on July 26, 2018 [1 favorite]

I'm really excited about this!! It's the first time my kid will get to see an eclipse because, in the past, they've always peaked at 4:30am or some ridiculous time like that. But tonight's peak is at 10:30pm so we're going to pack some snacks and climb the mountain behind our house after dark to get a better view.
posted by lollymccatburglar at 12:06 AM on July 27, 2018 [2 favorites]

Yeah, we get the full thing and it will be visible from the town beach within civilised hours (ie before my bedtime and while the pubs are open).
posted by biffa at 12:31 AM on July 27, 2018 [1 favorite]

Hmmm, weather forecast says it's going to be cloudy and rainy.
posted by biffa at 1:03 AM on July 27, 2018

...please be careful, Link.
posted by Quackles at 1:49 AM on July 27, 2018 [4 favorites]

::mumble mumble::

Signs and Portents.

::mumble mumble::
posted by Faintdreams at 2:01 AM on July 27, 2018 [1 favorite]

heatwave forcast to break with non-stop thunderstorms all night here in the UK... so I don't think I'll be seeing much of it
posted by fearfulsymmetry at 2:06 AM on July 27, 2018

I'm torn. We're supposed to be up at 4:30am for it. During the week I could handle but on Saturday? Also, it's been clear for weeks but cloudy forecast for tomorrow. And I'd wake the cats up.
posted by kitten magic at 2:19 AM on July 27, 2018

Oi! "The sun becoming black as sack-cloth" is about solar eclipses. This is a lunar eclipse.
posted by heatherlogan at 6:17 AM on July 27, 2018 [2 favorites]

I normally love and get excited about stuff like this, but if I can't even see it, WAAAAAAAAAH.
posted by jenfullmoon at 6:25 AM on July 27, 2018

So we’ve decided we can’t just have lunar eclipses anymore, we have to have “blood moons”?
posted by edheil at 8:56 AM on July 27, 2018

Wow! It really was very red. And from the time the first sliver was bright again, as the shadow moved off, it took a whole 50 minutes to be completely uncovered. And you can look at it, unlike a solar eclipse. A+ would watch again in a hundred years!
posted by starfishprime at 3:31 PM on July 27, 2018 [2 favorites]

I ended up watching the slooh broadcast and at one point the moon was purple and at another time it was pink. That was awesome.
posted by jenfullmoon at 5:39 PM on July 27, 2018

I woke young ms. flabdablet and the dog at four in the morning, we drove to the top of a local hill that I believe to be slightly higher than those on the western horizon, and we stayed there until sunrise. Conditions were unexpectedly damn near perfect: just the occasional wisp of cloud and none of it anywhere near the moon.

We watched the umbra inexorably eat the whole moon, then kept watching as it sank in the western sky, fading from the muddy tan of initial totality to the most delicate of pale pinks before the brightening dawn washed it out completely.

We did not get to see it lit up again, but given that we were not expecting that to happen until right on sunrise with the moon having fully set just five minutes after, were not too surprised or disappointed by that.

We saw the stars and the Milky Way blaze up as the moonlight disappeared, and caught a couple of satellites and many shooting stars, the brightest of which lasted a good two seconds and left a fading trail.

And when we were home and warm again, young ms. flabdablet said that although she'd expected three hours up a hill in the cold and the dark to shit her to tears and leave her needing to lie to me about having had fun, she'd actually had a really good time instead and was glad she'd gone. Yay astronomy!
posted by flabdablet at 10:46 AM on July 28, 2018 [3 favorites]