'It's something special': WNY will see a total lunar eclipse early Friday morning
BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) — Lunar eclipses are a natural phenomenon that happen once or twice a year, but once in a blue moon (figuratively speaking) you might see a total lunar eclipse.
'It's something special, it's reminding us that we're part of this dance that the Earth, Moon and Sun make to cause the shadows to line up,' said Dr. Kevin Williams, director of the Whitworth Ferguson Planetarium at Buffalo State. 'Being able to view these with our eyes instead of just seeing pictures of them makes that connection between use and the universe.
Total lunar eclipse 2025: What to expect on 3/14
Unlike last year's total solar eclipse, you won't need any instruments to view this total lunar eclipse, other than maybe an alarm clock.
'Around 1:10 in the morning, that's when the moon will pass into the main part of Earth's shadow, and that's when you'll start to really see the moon start to get darker, between 2:30 and 3:30 that's when the moon will be entirely in the Earth's main shadow, so that's pretty much the best time to watch it,' said Dr. Williams. 'As we look at the moon we're actually seeing sunlight reflecting off the moon, as apposed to looking directly at the sun like we were last year.'
Dr. Williams is the director of the Whitworth Ferguson Planetarium at Buffalo State University, and gave a preview of the Total Lunar Eclipse on Wake Up.
At the planetarium, they hold a variety of programs and events for people of all ages to learn more about astronomy and see that the night sky really looks like without light pollution.
'Once we get away from that light pollution, we can see several thousand stars, you can see the Milkyway and again it just reminds us that this is what the night sky looks like if we could get rid of the light pollution,' said Dr. Williams.
For more information on the Whitworth Ferguson Planetarium, visit their website here. To attend one of their events, click here.
Hope Winter is a reporter and multimedia journalist who has been part of the News 4 team since 2021. See more of her work here.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Scientists claim the universe could one day implode
If you purchase an independently reviewed product or service through a link on our website, BGR may receive an affiliate commission. The fate of the cosmos may be a bit different than previously expected. For years, scientists have talked about how the universe is always expanding — constantly moving outward, never stopping. However, new research suggests that might not be the case at all, and that the universe may end with another big bang as it implodes. Much of what we know (or think we know) about the universe is based around the idea that dark energy is holding everything together. Dark energy is a bit of a mystery when you really break it down, though, and despite everything we've learned while studying the cosmos with telescopes like the James Webb, we still haven't figured out dark energy. Today's Top Deals Best deals: Tech, laptops, TVs, and more sales Best Ring Video Doorbell deals Memorial Day security camera deals: Reolink's unbeatable sale has prices from $29.98 That said, dark energy might be at the center of the eventual end of the universe as we know it. Astronomers believe that there are two possible outcomes if dark energy really is the glue holding everything together. First, if the universe is truly expanding nonstop, and dark energy is a constant force, then eventually it will have spread too thin. This would lead to a 'big freeze' where the dark energy is spread so far out that the temperature everywhere becomes the same, essentially freezing the universe into a motionless, low-energy state. The alternative to this, though, is a lot more explosive. Astronomers also believe that if dark energy is not constant, and varies over time, then eventually the universe will snap back into a singularity, resulting in an implosion. This is, obviously, a pretty dramatic way for things to end, and elicits some existential dread. However, it's unclear if either of these end cases will prove true. The universe is a very intriguing and still mysterious thing. And pinning down exactly what dark energy is, and how it behaves, is going to be paramount to understanding how the universe might end. In the meantime, scientists continue to uncover more information about how our universe works, including figuring out key information like when the Sun will explode. It's also entirely possible the universe is dying faster than we thought, which raises even more questions about the state of matter and the future of our universe. More Top Deals Amazon gift card deals, offers & coupons 2025: Get $2,000+ free See the
Yahoo
3 hours ago
- Yahoo
The last Full Moon of spring shines in the sky this week
Eyes to the sky to see 2025's Full Strawberry Moon! Do you have reasonably clear skies this week? If so, pause for a few minutes during the next few nights, turn your gaze to the sky, and take in the beauty of the final Full Moon of Spring 2025. This Full Moon is timed to occur at 7:44 UTC on June 11, or 3:44 a.m. EDT. However, due to the Moon's distance and its size in the sky, at a glance it will appear full from Monday evening through until just after midnight Thursday morning. Viewing the Moon through a telescope or a good pair of binoculars, though, will reveal the very thin sliver of the Moon's disk in shadow on Monday and Wednesday nights. This is the final Full Moon of spring for this year, and the first 'normal' sized Full Moon after a string of three micromoons in March, April, and May. If you'd like to see the Moon look exceptionally big, head out around sunset and look for it on the eastern horizon. Or, if you're up before the Sun rises, look for it as it is setting in the west. Either time, the Moon will look huge, due to the Moon Illusion. READ MORE: The name of this Full Moon really doesn't have anything to do with colour. Still, we could see it take on a strawberry hue, due to wildfire smoke drifting across the country. Every Full Moon we see during the year has its own popular name. These names were gathered together, roughly a century ago, and published in the Farmer's Alamanac. They originated from Colonial and European folklore, but mostly from the indigenous peoples of what is now known as the northeastern United States and the Great Lakes region. This graphic collects all the relevant data for the 12 Full Moons of 2025. (Scott Sutherland/NASA's Scientific Visualization Studio/Fred Espenak) The popular name of the June Full Moon is the Strawberry Moon, as this was traditionally the time of year to pick ripened strawberries. Although the Colonial and European names used by the almanacs referred specifically to the Full Moon, the other names they added to the list actually did not. Or, at least that was not their only use. DON'T MISS: Like other advanced cultures around the world, the indigenous peoples of North America used a sophisticated lunar calendar to track time. For example, the Anishinaabe visualized their calendar using the pattern of plates on the shell of a turtle. The 28 small plates around the shell's edge corresponded to the days of each lunar cycle, and the 13 large plates on the turtle's back were the 13 lunar months of the year. Each of the 13 moons was given a name, similar to the months of the Gregorian calendar. However, whereas the names of the months came from gods, rulers, and their numerical order in the calendar, the names of the moons were taken from the aspect of nature that affected the peoples' lives at that time of year. The Strawberry Moon corresponds closely with the month of June in the Gregorian calendar. As shown below, though, it does not match up perfectly with the calendar month. The phases of the Moon during the 2025 Strawberry Moon lunation, from May 27 to June 25. (Scott Sutherland/NASA's Scientific Visualization Studio) (Thumbnail image courtesy Eva Hurlbut, of St. Thomas, ON, who captured this reddish-hued Full Strawberry Moon on June 3, 2023.) Click here to view the video
New York Post
4 hours ago
- New York Post
June's Strawberry Moon ushers in best time of year to view our celestial neighbor
Known as the Strawberry Moon, the last full Moon of spring rises early Wednesday, beginning the best time of year to enjoy our celestial neighbor. Dr. Tyler Richey-Yowell, a postdoctoral fellow at Lowell Observatory in Arizona, said this is the first Moon to appear this low on the horizon in about a year. June's full Moon is the last of astronomical spring, even though if you ask a meteorologist, summer is already in full swing. 'The Moon going across the night sky is always going to be a little lower because, in the summertime into the summer, the Sun goes higher and higher in the sky just because of our orbit. And so the Moon, being completely opposite of that, gets lower and lower,' she said. The Strawberry Moon gets its name from the time when the berry is ready for picking, but it also corresponds with the slight hue as the Moon is lower in the sky. 'When it spends more of that time in that lower portion of the sky, you're looking through more of Earth's atmosphere, which makes these moons generally look redder and more golden. And also, they appear bigger,' Richey-Yowell said. 'The atmosphere actually bends some of the light. And so while there's not really any astronomical significance to moons in the summer, we do actually get cooler, bigger, prettier moons in the summer.' 3 People posing in front of the 'Strawberry Moon over the New York City skyline on June 21, 2024. Photo byFor some in the northern tier and Southeast, the Strawberry Moon may be especially colorful this year. Saharan dust arriving to Florida and crawling up the Southeast coast can also scatter light in a way that creates vibrant sunrises and sunsets, as well as a tint to the Moon. In the North, wildfire smoke from Canada has reduced air quality but also had the same effect on the sky color. 3 The next Strawberry Moon will rise on Wednesday. Getty Images How to photograph the Strawberry Moon Richey-Yowell said the best time to enjoy the Moon throughout the summer is right after sunset, when the Moon is peeking up over the horizon. During this time, the Moon can appear to have a reddish tint. For the Strawberry Moon on Wednesday, it will be at its biggest and brightest after midnight (Pacific time) and after 3 a.m. (Eastern time). 3 The 2024 Strawberry Moon seen over the Statue of Liberty. Photo by'If you're a night person, that would be the time to go up and see it,' she said. With an earlier time of day to see the Moon in late spring and this summer, it's a good chance to practice photographing our only satellite. If you plan to use a smartphone or camera, Richey-Yowell recommends finding something to stabilize your device. 'Turning down the saturation on your phone is typically what I do. The Moon's actually just really good for holding up to a telescope as well,' she said. 'They also make some really nice like phone holders that you can attach to your own personal telescope.' The Strawberry Moon will make good practice for next month. The full Buck Moon appears at its fullest just after 4 p.m. ET on July 11, which will make for a spectacular sunset and Moon.
