via Flickr/Fred_Schulenburg
The "blood moon," named for its reddish hue caused by light from Earth's sunsets and sunrises.
A rare and beautiful astronomical event happened in the skies last night. But as millions of people around the world watched in awe, St. Louisans looked up in frustration.
Cloudy skies blocked St. Louis’ view of Sunday’s “blood moon,” a total lunar eclipse of a super full moon. Last night, the moon was as close to Earth as its orbit allows, full, and eclipsed—a rare occurrence that won’t happen again until October 2033. The eclipse was also part of a lunar tetrad, a series of four total lunar eclipses that started last year.
Stargazers in the U.S. had front-row seats for the eclipse, though its rarity made it a world event. As the “blood moon” peaked just before 9:50 p.m., people watched as the moon moved between us and the sun and glowed red from the light of Earth’s sunrises and sunsets.
But all St. Louis could see were clouds.
The blocked view was especially disappointing since the blood moon, according to some people, was supposed to usher in the apocalypse.
The clouds eventually cleared, but not in time for St. Louis’ amateur astronomers to see the eclipse at its peak. Several tweeted their disappointment:
Sorry, St. Louis. Maybe the weather will be better next time—in 18 years.
Contact Lindsay Toler by an email at LToler@stlmag.com or on Twitter @StLouisLindsay. For more from St. Louis Magazine, subscribe or follow us on Facebook and Twitter.
