There's been a lot of hype about the lunar eclipse coming on Wednesday morning. But there may be something else going on in the pre-dawn skies that is worth waking up early for.
Howard Hochhalter manages the Bishop Planetarium at Bradenton's South Florida Museum. And he loves teaching people about the stars and planets. He's calling this a "trifecta of lunar events." That is, a supermoon, (or a slightly larger moon), a blue moon (a second full moon in a calendar month), and a lunar eclipse, all rolled into one.
But he says for us, because of the timing, with the sun coming up right around when the eclipse is supposed to come into view, “Seeing the lunar eclipse from Florida is like going to an Elvis concert 30 seconds before he walks out of the building."
He expects California to be a prime viewing spot for this event.
Hochhalter says on Wednesday morning he will be taking his children out to see something with an even more spectacular view.
“You can look up from the southern to the eastern sky, you can see Jupiter, Mars, Saturn and if you have an unobstructed view all the way down to the horizon, you should be able to see Mercury as well,” he said.
That’s all before the sun comes up. But if you do want to try to catch the lunar eclipse, the best place to be is at the beach.
