- A total lunar eclipse will be visible in the overnight hours
- The phenomenon is sometimes called a blood moon because the satellite will glow red in the sky
- The next total lunar eclipse is expected in 2026
If you’re willing to lose a little sleep tonight, you could get a chance to witness a rare total lunar eclipse, the first one visible from the United States since November 2022.
The phenomenon is sometimes called a blood moon or a blood worm moon because our celestial neighbor will glow red-orange.
Here’s what you need to know:
When is the eclipse?
The show gets underway just before midnight Eastern Daylight Time, when the moon enters the outer part of the Earth’s shadow. A partial eclipse follows at 1:09 a.m. Totality begins at 2:26 a.m. and lasts just over an hour, until 3:31 a.m.
What will we see?
The moon will pass through the earth’s shadow and take on a reddish hue.
Check out this NASA animation:
Why the red color?
We’ll let NASA explain: “The Moon appears red or orange because any sunlight that’s not blocked by our planet is filtered through a thick slice of Earth’s atmosphere on its way to the lunar surface,” NASA’s Caela Barry writes.
Will the weather cooperate?
Depends on where you are. Bridge did a spot check of National Weather Service and Accuweather forecasts. The Detroit and Gaylord regions should have mostly clear skies. Expect partly cloudy skies near Grand Rapids and Kalamazoo and mostly cloudy skies near Marquette.
When is the next total lunar eclipse?
If you miss this total lunar eclipse, you’ll have another chance less than a year from now. According to timeanddate.com, a time and weather tracking website out of Norway, the next total lunar eclipse visible from the United States will be March 2-3, 2026.
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