The longest “Beaver Moon” lunar eclipse in 580 years was seen on Nov. 19 at around 2 a.m. Mountain Standard Time.
The annual “beaver moon” lunar eclipse this November was a special one to be sure, as a lunar eclipse hasn’t lasted this long since the reign of King Henry VI.
“It was like history being made, right before my eyes,” said Hughenden Public School HPS) student Athacia Coral.
According to New York Times journalists Micheal Roston and Matt McCann (Nov. 19, 2021 edition), “Lunar eclipses occur when Earth comes between the sun and the moon, and the Earth’s atmosphere filters the light, making the shadow the Earth leaves on the moon look almost like a sunset.”
Since the moon was farther away from Earth for this partial eclipse, it took a lot longer to travel through Earth’s shadow, which is why the eclipse took a total of six hours.
Unfortunately, due to the unusual hour of the event, not many people saw it, either unable or unwilling to stay up until 2 a.m. in order to see the partial eclipse.
Cloud cover was also a large issue in Canada that night, so in certain areas people were unable to see the eclipse at all, and others had some difficulty but were still able to view it.
Local resident Cara Myher, who lives near Amisk, Alta. was just glad to have this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to view the eclipse.
“I thought it was pretty cool that this is the first time this has happened in 600 years, it’s a real once in a lifetime opportunity and I’m glad to have had it,” said Myher.
by Declan Lawrason and Daylin Bengston
