How to See March’s ‘Blood Moon’ Total Lunar Eclipse

• The first total lunar eclipse since 2022 will turn the moon a haunting crimson for over an hour.
• The eclipse will be visible in the Western Hemisphere in every state in the U.S.
• The eclipse will start around 1 a.m. EDT on Friday, and the totality will happen between about 2:30 a.m. and 3:30 a.m. EDT.

A celestial spectacle is in store tonight that will make the moon appear an eerie shade of red.

On the night of March 13 and early into March 14, stargazers in North America and South America will have a front row seat to a total lunar eclipse. The event, the first of its kind in nearly three years, will gradually unfold between 11:57 p.m. and 6 a.m. EDT.

Totality, the point at which the moon enters the Earth’s inner shadow (umbra) and begins a visual transformation, will occur between 2:26 a.m. and 3:31 a.m. EDT. During this stage, which is expected to last 65 minutes, the lunar surface will transition from its traditional pearly white to a deep, ruddy red, giving way to the prolonged spectacle of the “blood moon.”

Why will the moon turn red?

A total lunar eclipse occurs when the Earth passes directly between the moon and the sun, casting its shadow fully over the lunar surface. During totality, the moon enters Earth’s umbra—the darkest, central part of its shadow—and gradually dims.

While Earth blocks direct sunlight from reaching the moon, some of the sun’s light still filters through the planet’s atmosphere. This phenomenon, known as Rayleigh scattering, creates the same effect that makes sunrises and sunsets so vivid, and paints the moon in an eerie, red glow.

“The red is the projection of all the sunrises and sunsets onto the lunar surface,” Noah Petro, Project Scientist for NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter mission, told Forbes. “We see it turn red not because of some mythical fire-breathing dragon, but because of the properties of the Earth’s atmosphere scattering light.”

How to Watch the Eclipse

Unlike solar eclipses, which require special glasses for viewing every phase except totality, lunar eclipses are perfectly safe to view with the naked eye. If anything, all you’ll need is a blanket, lawn chair, and a hot cup of coffee. They’re also quite forgiving with uneven weather conditions thanks to their long duration, so if a cloud briefly obscures the moon during totality, waiting several minutes for it to pass won’t spoil the fun.

Should the March weather, however, decide to present something more dull and grey, don’t despair. Eclipse gurus Anne Buckle and Graham Jones of TimeandDate.com will be hosting a live stream of the event starting at 1 a.m. EDT on March 14.

If the haunting glow of the blood moon sparks your passion for total lunar eclipses, you won’t have long to wait to catch it again. On Sept. 7, another striking show will captivate stargazers across Asia, Africa, Australia, and Europe. For those in the Americas, the next total lunar eclipse arrives in March 2026.