Watch the Moon Turn Blood Red During March’s Total Lunar Eclipse

The Western Hemisphere’s moon will be flushed red from Thursday night into Friday morning due to a total lunar eclipse.

A total lunar eclipse is scheduled to take place from Thursday, March 13 to Friday, March 14, with visibility across the Western Hemisphere (North and South America).

When the moon, Earth, and sun line up precisely, a lunar eclipse occurs. A shadow cast by the Earth can obscure the moon entirely or in part.

Earth’s shadow seems to bite the moon during a partial lunar eclipse. A total eclipse covers the full moon, which turns coppery red as a result of errant rays of sunlight penetrating Earth’s atmosphere.

Explained by NASA, there are four to seven lunar and solar eclipses annually. The previous total lunar eclipse occurred in 2022, and last September, a partial lunar eclipse adorned the skies over the Americas, Africa, and Europe.

The so-called crimson moon will be visible on Friday morning at 2:26 a.m. Eastern for around an hour. It will be most visible at 3 a.m. Eastern time.

No special equipment or eclipse glasses are required to see it; just go outside and look up.