Dearborn Observatory and CIERA Host Public Viewing of Total Lunar Eclipse
May 17, 2022
*Content taken from the Daily Northwestern by Jacob Wendler
Northwestern students and Evanston residents gathered atop the South Campus Parking Garage Sunday night to view the total lunar eclipse of the May full moon, also known as the flower moon.
The Dearborn Observatory and NU’s Center for Interdisciplinary Exploration and Research in Astrophysics organized the free public viewing, providing community members the opportunity to view the rare event.
Several months of planning and coordination went into preparing for the event, according to astronomy and physics Prof. Michael Smutko, who currently serves as the director of the Dearborn Observatory. He said while clouds obstructed the moon for some of the event, he was happy to host it.
“This is the first time in a few years that we’ve had a total lunar eclipse visible from Chicago,” Smutko said. “These are just really nice events that, every year or two, you can really get a sense of the connection between the heavens and what life is down here on Earth.”
Attendees viewed the eclipse through several telescopes on the top level of the garage, with students, faculty and postdoctoral fellows available to answer questions about the eclipse.
CIERA Education & Outreach Coordinator James Schottelkotte said lunar eclipses are “rare celestial events” and that this one was particularly unique because it was visible from the entire country.
“It’s just a really cool phenomenon to see the moon go through these changes all in just a couple hours,” Schottelkotte said. “(It goes) through not only changes of the shadow, but changes of color… and we can explain that with science.”
Those who did not get a chance to view Sunday’s eclipse will have another chance in the fall: the next total lunar eclipse fully visible from the Chicago area will be November 8.
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