Astronomy fans won’t need a telescope or binoculars to catch California’s latest celestial event.
Anyone with a clear view of the moon can experience the eclipse that will emerge in the early morning hours of Tuesday.
The total lunar eclipse — a phenomenon where the Earth directly intercepts the sun and moon, painting a shadow across the moon — will occur from 12:44 to 6:23 a.m.
Pacific time Tuesday.
The peak moment, when the Earth’s shadow bathes the entire moon in a shade of red-orange, will begin at 3:04 a.m.
and last for about an hour.
“The lunar eclipse can be seen easily with the unaided eye from any location with a clear view of the night sky,” Gerald McKeegan, an adjunct astronomer for Chabot Space & Science Center in Oakland, wrote in an email to SFGATE.
Inland areas and the mountains are the best locations statewide for viewing the lunar eclipse.
Those places could escape the low cloud cover forecast to emerge across much of California after sunset, according to National Weather Service meteorologist Dial Hoang.
In the Bay Area, Hoang recommended eclipse hunters pursue the higher elevations of Sonoma and Napa counties or go....
