Derrick Pitts, Chief Astronomer at the Franklin Institute Interview

Mendte in the Morning talks to Derrick Pitts about the blood moon that will be in our sky tonight and when is the best time to go outside to see it.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
I've interviewed Derek Pitts so many times over the years.
I like to introduce him as the smartest guy I know.
Derek Pitts is the chief astronomer at the Franklin Institute. Hey,
it's good to talk to you again, Derek.

Speaker 2 (00:15):
Good morning, Larry. It's great to talk to you. Thanks
for having me.

Speaker 1 (00:18):
Oh no, absolutely, You're the best guy I could think
of to go to for this. Because we're expecting a
blood moon over night tonight, and I'll start with the
obvious question. Why do we call it a blood moon?

Speaker 2 (00:31):
It's called the blood moon, Larry, because when the moon
moves into the Earth's shadow, what happens is all of
the blue light that we see in a daytime sky
get scattered by the Earth's atmosphere, and only the longer
wavelengths of like the red, fall onto the surface of
the moon then, and so it makes the moon look
anywhere from a coppery color all the way down to

(00:55):
a very deep brick red color. So we we bring
these names together and we think of it as a
blood moon.

Speaker 1 (01:03):
How rare is this? How often do these happen?

Speaker 2 (01:07):
The opportunity for eclipses, either lunar or solar eclipses is
between four and seven times every year. And the question is, well,
an eclipse can happen like once to every twenty months
or so ten I'm sorry, fourteen months or so. And
so the problem is is it visible on this side

(01:29):
of the planet or is it visible only on the
other side of the planet. So for us, this particular
one is visible from this side of the planet.

Speaker 1 (01:37):
So we in the best position to see it.

Speaker 2 (01:40):
Oh, we are in the best position to see it, yes,
because we'll be able to see the entire eclipse from
its beginning all the way out to its end.

Speaker 1 (01:49):
That's great. So when should I know a lot of
people that want to see this. I've been a big
conversation during the week with a lot of friends who
all are going to get up to watch this h
and so you're saying it's worth it, It's worth the
time of getting up in the middle of the night
to go see this.

Speaker 2 (02:07):
Yeah, you know, if you haven't seen a total lunary clips,
then it's worth seeing this event. I mean, if you have,
if you you know, if you're if you haven't seen
it yourself, if you have kids that haven't seen it yet,
then you should get them up, and you should get
up to take a look at it, because it really
is a really beautiful phenomenon and it's something that you
can't get off this planet without seeing at least once.

Speaker 1 (02:31):
Okay, now people are going to be setting their alarms
right now. What time should they set their alarm for?
What is the best time to see this?

Speaker 2 (02:40):
Best time to see this is between two fifteen am
and three forty five AM.

Speaker 1 (02:49):
That's a big time commitment. WHOA, that's a huge time
commitment in the middle of the night.

Speaker 2 (02:56):
It is. But here's what I'm saying. If you get
up somewhere in that window of time and go take
a look at the moon, you'll be able to see
it when it's in the deepest portion of the eclipse,
when it's at its greatest coloration. So if you go
out and look at the moon tonight, Larry, right as
the eclipse is starting at eleven fifty seven PM, you're

(03:18):
not gonna see very much. It's not gonna look like
anything is happening for at least the first hour. So
if you wait until the moon is almost completely in
the Earth's shadow, which is happening at two twenty six
in the morning, when the full Moon is fully inside
the Earth's shadow. Then you'll see this beautiful reddish color
across the surface. And you can watch it for another

(03:41):
hour and a half as it moves through the deepest
portion of the Earth's shadow in this beautiful deep red color.
And then you'll see it start to emerge from the shadow.
And that's when you know it's time to go back
to bed.

Speaker 1 (03:55):
How long How long does this take? I mean, will
we see like chunks of the moon moon start to disappear.

Speaker 2 (04:02):
It's a very gradual process. It starts right on the
edge of the moon, and as the Moon slides into
the Earth's shadow, the Moon gradually gets covered because it's
moving further and further into the Earth's shadow. And so
this starts at eleven fifty seven PM Eastern time and
it continues until six a m.

Speaker 1 (04:25):
So this is just to be clear, this is a
total lunar eclipse.

Speaker 2 (04:30):
Yes, this is not a partial lunary eclipse where only
part of the Moon is in the Earth's shadow. Here's
something Larry that most people do not think about at
all about astronomy. The Earth creates a shadow that stretches
out behind it at night, out into the solar system.
And if you a viewer, are standing outside at night,
say around midnight, you're looking right down the center of

(04:53):
the Earth's shadows stretching out into the night sky. Now,
we never see that because the sky is dark. How
do you see a shadow in a dark environment? You can't,
So you need something to reveal it. And what's going
to happen is tonight, the moon is going to reveal
the shape of the Earth's shadow. We'll start to see
it when the moon starts to move into the deepest

(05:15):
portion and that reddish color starts to come over the moon.
That's the Moon moving into the Earth's shadow. That is
always there, but we never see. It's on the night
side of the Earth, and you'll see the Moon move
through the Earth's shadow during that period of totality.

Speaker 1 (05:29):
Well, luckily i'm driving in at this time. A lot
of people that are in talk radio on mornings will
see it, just because it's going to happen while they're
driving in. The rest of My family's getting up to
watch this, and we're going to do it on the way.
You're selling it right now, so I may be calling
you back if I'm at all disappointed by this Derek.

Speaker 2 (05:52):
As long as you're not calling me back up three
point thirty in the morning, Larry, that's just fine.

Speaker 1 (05:56):
That's the way to get you back. Absolutely. Derek Pitt's
chief astronomer at the Franklin Institute. If you have never been,
and you should visit. Thanks so much, Derek.

Speaker 2 (06:06):
Five years.

Speaker 1 (06:08):
It was great to talk to you.