On Jan. 20, the Stockton Astronomical Society hosted a lunar eclipse watch party at Oak Grove Regional Park.
“Lunar eclipses and solar eclipses happen about every 177 days, it’s just a matter of where you are on Earth to whether you get to see it or not,” said Doug Christensen, a Stockton Astronomical Society member.
A lunar eclipse occurs when Earth’s shadow blocks the moon from the sun.
The event usually lasts for about an hour from time to time, which is longer compared to solar eclipses that can last for about a few minutes.
This lunar eclipse in particular was named and most known as the Super Blood Wolf Moon Eclipse, which comes from folk tales.
“They like to talk about super moon, not really, that’s over hyping it. When the moon is at its closest it’s about seven percent closer than the norm, ” said Christensen.
Every so often Stockton is able to see one of these eclipses. Sometimes the events happen early morning or like this particular one they happen in prime time.
The first phase of Earth’s shadow blocking began around 6:33 p.m. and the second around 7:33 p.m. Inclement weather, however, brought a lot of clouds so it was difficult to watch the change of phases.
At first the moon would peek out from the clouds and show a tiny bit but it was not until around 9 p.m. the eclipse was really visible.
The next visible lunar eclipse for Stockton will not happen until March 2021 and it will happen in the early morning.
Every month the Stockton Astronomical Society hosts astronomy in the park at Oak Grove Regional Park, located on Eight Mile Road east of Interstate 5, where the group provides telescopes for those who want to enjoy the night sky and fun events such as this past lunar eclipse.