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Tonight , a total lunar occultation is come to Earth for the first time since 2022 .
On the dark of March 13 - 14 , 2025,North America and South America will get a great view of all form of what is commonly called a " blood synodic month . "
A photo of a total lunar eclipse, or “blood moon”, over Tokyo in 2022.
During the total lunar occultation , which will last about five minute , the fullmoonwill travel through Earth ’s shadow and take on a striking reddish chromaticity for 65 moment . Unlike atotal solar occultation , which can be see only from within a minute course of aggregate , a total lunar occultation is seeable from anywhere on Earth ’s night side .
Overnight tonight ( March 13 - 14 ) , that will includeall North American time zones , admit Alaska and Hawaii . observer in Western Europe will see the synodic month limit while still eclipsed , while in Australia and New Zealand , it will originate already in totality . ( entireness refers to the period when a celestial object is full occult , as seen from Earth . )
If you ca n’t see the lunar eclipse in mortal , you could ascertain a detached springy stream of the entire eventcourtesy of the Virtual Telescope Projectin Italy . The stream begins just before the eclipse does , at 12:00 a.m. EDT on Friday ( 4:00 UTC Friday ) .
The first total lunar eclipse since 2022 will be seen across North and South America.
What is a total lunar eclipse?
A total lunar occultation takes place when Earth is put at once betweenthe sunand a full moon , causing the planet ’s dark shadow , its umbra , to enshroud the lunar Earth’s surface . The moon turns red because the only Christ Within get hold of it is sunlight refract through Earth ’s atmosphere , which filters out shorter wavelengths and leaves behind only long - wavelength , reddish chromaticity . The physics is similar to what happens during sunrise and sundown .
have-to doe with : Why is the sky down ?
What time is the ‘blood moon’ lunar eclipse?
The lunar eclipsewill occur in five stagecoach between 11:57 p.m. and 6 a.m. EDT ( 03:57 to 10:00 UTC ) , according toTimeanddate.com . The first stage lead off when the moon moves into Earth ’s fuzzy outer shadow , its penumbra , and lose its brightness . It then enroll the umbra , and step by step turns reddish as the line of Earth ’s tail move across the lunar month .
entireness is the stage you do n’t desire to miss — when the total lunar surface will appear reddish , becoming a on-key " blood lunar month . " midway through that 65 - arcminute period , the event start out to run in opposite , with the lunation gradually slipping out of Earth ’s umbra , then penumbra , before finally come back to its regular bright , white - grey vividness .
For those in eastern areas of North America , the initial partial stage of the eclipsewill begin at 1:09 a.m. EDT on March 14 , with total lasting from 2:26 a.m. to 3:32 a.m. EDT . On the West Coast , the fond phase start at 10:09 p.m. PDT on March 13 , with totality occurring from 11:26 p.m. to 12:32 a.m. PDT on March 14 . Because lunar eclipses are spherical event that occur at the same minute worldwide , these difference are merely due to sentence zones .
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you may catch the entire lunar eclipse with the raw eye , but agood backyard telescopeor a nice pair ofstargazing binocularsmay help you well revalue the motion of Earth ’s shadow across the lunar month and can reveal the occultation playing out across specific lunar structure , like large craters .
If you omit March ’s total lunar eclipse , there is one more to depend fore to in 2025 , though North Americans will be mostly forget out . The following entire lunar eclipse will occur overnight on Sept. 7 - 8 and will be best observed in Asia .
Moon quiz: What do you know about our nearest celestial neighbor?
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