The last total lunar eclipse visible from our location was in 2019. The Anton Pannekoek Institute will open its doors from 7:30 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. for this special celestial event. During this evening, there will also be a lecture (in Dutch) and various activities for children, but of course, the main focus will be on the eclipse itself. What can you expect from this eclipse?

The moon will rise completely eclipsed around 8:10 p.m., while on the other side of the sky the sun will just be setting. The lunar eclipse will therefore already have been underway for a while, but invisible to us. It will be a competition to see who will be the first to spot the moon on the eastern horizon, in the twilight. As the moon rises further, the eclipse will slowly diminish and by 9:00 p.m. the totality phase will already be over, but the moon will still be largely eclipsed. By 10:00 p.m., the moon will have completely disappeared from the Earth's main shadow.

During a lunar eclipse, the Earth is between the Sun and the full moon, so most of the sunlight cannot reach the moon. Due to the bending of light by our atmosphere, the light that does reach the moon turns red. This is why a total lunar eclipse is also commonly referred to as a ‘blood moon’.

Program API open evening

7:30 p.m. Start of the evening with a lecture by Prof. Carsten Dominik and possibly craft activities (ongoing) in the central hall.

7:50 p.m. Time to go outside, or in case of bad weather, we will watch a livestream from elsewhere in the world where it is clear with Q&A

8:10–8:15 p.m. Moon rises: who will spot it first?

8:55 p.m. End of totality. The first rays of sunlight reach the moon again directly and a bright rim appears around the moon.

9:57 p.m. End of eclipse in the umbra and end of event.