Most nights, if the moon is clear, the objects hovering in the night sky will shine with a bright silver halo.
This can be an attractive sight, especially when the moon is full and unbearable to the clouds. But this is with hundreds of millions of Americans who will have the chance to see next month’s chance in the first lunar eclipse in nearly three years.
That night the moon will appear on our planet on earth and when it is in line with our planet and the sun, it will turn into a striking rusty red. When this happens, the moon is entering the shadow of the earth in a discoloration process, which nicknames it “Blood Moon”.
The upcoming lunar eclipse, the first since November 2022, will also coincide with this year’s Worm Moon (the third and last full moon in winter).
Here’s what it takes to know about total lunar eclipse, including when and how to check out the next one.
What is a lunar eclipse and what does it look like?
The full moon is entirely in the shadow of the earth and in a total lunar eclipse taken on the early morning of January 21, 2019, with a dim orange color.
When the moon aligns with our planet and the sun, and the moon enters the shadow of the earth, a lunar eclipse occurs.
As our planet passes between natural satellites and the sun, the shadow of the earth imperfectly covers it, it creates a partial lunar eclipse – just like what happened in September. According to NASA, the entire moon enters the darkest part of the earth’s shadow, called umbra, completely blocking it from the sun.
While the moon will become darker than usual, it also appears to have a striking red-orange hues on its surface, creating a magnificent sight in the night sky as it passes through the signs Leo and Virgo in the night sky.
What is Blood Moon?
Due to discoloration, lunar eclipse is often called the “blood moon”.
According to NASA, the process of producing a red or orange glow is the same as making our sky blue and sunset red.
As light reaches the Earth’s atmosphere, it spreads over the gases and particles in the air.
Because blue light is relatively easy to spread, that’s why our sky appears in this color most of the time. The light that red light travels more directly in the air manifests as ground observers during sunrise and sunset, when the sun is close to the horizon and its incoming light passes through the Earth’s atmosphere at a longer low angle path.
This is similar to what happens during a lunar eclipse, when any sunlight that is not blocked on our planet will filter through the thick Earth’s atmosphere on its way to the surface of the moon.
“It seems like all the sunrises and sunsets in the world are projected onto the moon,” NASA explained.
When is the lunar eclipse?
From the evening of March 13 to 14, lunar eclipses can be seen throughout the United States.
The website’s time and date forecasts, the moon will complete all solar eclipse phases in 6 hours and 3 minutes.
According to NASA, if you live in the United States, you can see the solar eclipse starts around 11:57 ET, when the half-moon phase begins as the moon enters the outside of the shadow and begins subtly dimly.
At 1:09 a.m., part of the solar eclipse begins as the moon enters the earth’s awning and starts to darken. To the naked eye, the moon should look like a bite from the moon’s plate.
When the entire moon is below Umbra, the overall happens at 2:26 am. This is the red hue of “Blood Moon”.
When the moon exits around 3:31 a.m., the red will gradually disappear, and this time it will appear on the other side of the moon. NASA explained that the entire solar eclipse is expected to end at 6 a.m. as the moon slowly leaves the Earth’s semi-finals.
Where to check out the lunar eclipse in March
Audiences watched the lunar eclipse in Eugene, Oregon in 2022. When the sun, the earth and the moon are aligned, a lunar eclipse occurs to allow the moon to enter the shadow of the earth. In a lunar eclipse, the entire moon falls on the darkest part of the earth’s shadow, called umbra.
Although lunar eclipses are relatively few, when they do occur, they are visible to half of the entire Earth.
For this solar eclipse, the Western Hemisphere will be considered to include the entire North America. For those in the United States, this means that all the lower 48 states should have a view. In South America and western regions of Europe and Africa, total solar eclipse will also be visible.
While you don’t need any special equipment to observe this phenomenon, astronomers insist that the view of the telescope and binoculars will be better. In any case, dark environments away from bright city lights can be best observed.
Time and date provide more details on when and where to view eclipse.
When will the next lunar eclipse be?
According to NASA, there will be no other lunar eclipse in the United States until March 2026.
Eric Lagatta covers USA Today’s outbreak and trend news. Contact him at eligatta@gannett.com
This article originally appeared in USA Today: Total Lunar Eclipse
