An unusual celestial event is about to emerge in all of its fiery red glory over the Bay Area sky Thursday night.
For the first time in more than two years, the full moon will plunge into the Earth’s dark inner shadow, producing a total lunar eclipse late in the evening that’s expected to reach totality just before midnight, Gerald McKeegan , an astronomer for the Chabot Space & Science Center, told SFGATE in an email.
The show is expected to kick off at 8:57 p.m. as the moon fades slightly and begins to cross into the Earth’s outer shadow. By 10:09 p.m., people will start to see “that dark, rusty red shadow creep across the face of the moon,” McKeegan said. At 11:26 p.m., the moon will be completely cloaked in darkness and remain in the Earth’s shadow for more than an hour before it slowly departs. The eclipse will end at 3 a.m. Friday…