Lunar Eclipse On Friday Night Can Be Viewed Live Online

A lunar eclipse is taking place Friday night, and the half of the world that won’t fall in the moon’s shadow can still watch the celestial event live online.

The lunar eclipse will be featured in a free webcast by the Slooh Space Camera, which uses remotely operated telescopes to capture video of the night sky. The camera, offered by Space.com, has also broadcast other celestial events including solar flares, meteor showers, and eclipses.

Anyone expecting a grand event might be disappointed, scientists say. The lunar eclipse taking place on Friday isn’t expected to be as impressive as other recent events because only a small sliver of the full moon will pass through the Earth’s shadow.

“It will thus be impossible to notice anything out of the ordinary concerning the moon’s overall appearance,” SPACE.com columnist Joe Rao wrote. “It will, in fact look like any other full moon.”

Friday’s lunar eclipse will be visible from the Americas and western Africa. It will begin at 11:53 pm EDT and end close to 12:27 am EDT on Saturday. It will peak at approximately 12:10 am EDT.

A lunar eclipse is caused when the moon moves to the opposite side of the Earth as the sun, usually during the full moon. A total lunar eclipse takes place when the moon is completely in the Earth’s shadow, and a partial eclipse happens when it passes through only part of the shadow.

There will be three lunar eclipses in 2013, though one was barely visible. A partial lunar eclipse on April 25 left a tiny portion of the moon — about 1 percent — covered by the Earth’s shadow. It was the second-shortest eclipse in the 21st century, lasting 27 minutes.

Another lunar eclipse in 2042 will cover just 0.3 percent of the moon and last 12 minutes.

The lunar eclipse can be seen live online starting at about 11:37 pm EDT.