Millions of Americans could see a total lunar eclipse in March. Here’s what to know 2025
On most nights, if the moon is clear, the celestial body that hovers in the night sky shines with a bright silvery glow.
It can be a spectacular sight, especially when the moon is full and obscured by clouds, but it’s nothing like what millions of Americans will get to see next month during the first total lunar eclipse in nearly three years.
That night, the Moon will appear in front of us on Earth to turn a rusty red color when it aligns with our planet and the Sun.
The next total lunar eclipse will be the first since November 2022, and this year’s total lunar eclipse will also coincide with the third and final full moon of the winter season.
What to know about total lunar eclipses, including when and how to see the next one.
Planet Parade
Planet Parade There’s still time to see the Planet Parade starting in January.
What is a total lunar eclipse and what does it look like?
A lunar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes into Earth’s shadow while aligning with our planet and the Sun.
When our planet passes between our natural satellite and the Sun, the Moon is completely covered by the Earth’s shadow, creating a partial lunar eclipse like the one that happened in September, according to NASA.
While the moon will be dimmer than usual, its surface will also have a reddish-orange hue for a few hours, creating a spectacular sight in the night sky as it passes through the constellations Leo and Virgo.
What is a Blood Moon?
A lunar eclipse is often called a blood moon because of its color-changing phenomenon.
According to NASA, the process that produces the red or orange glow is what makes our skies blue and our sunsets red.
As light reaches the Earth’s atmosphere, it is scattered in all directions by gases and particles in the air.
Because blue light scatterers relatively easily, that’s why our sky appears in that color most of the time. Reddish light, which travel’s more directly in the air, manifests to ground observes during sunrise and sunsets when the sun is near the horizon and its incoming light travel’s at a longer, low-angle path through Earth’s atmosphere.
This is similar to what happens during a total lunar eclipse when any sunlight that is not blocked by our planet is filtered through a thick layer of Earth’s atmosphere on its way to the Moon’s surface.
It is as if all the sunrises and sunsets of the world are projected onto the moon without explanation.
When is the total lunar eclipse?
A total lunar eclipse will be visible across the United States on the night of March 13-14.
The website Time and Date predicts that the moon will complete all phases of the eclipse in six hours and three minutes.
If you live in the U.S., you can see the eclipse starting at 11:57 p.m. EST when the penumbral veil begins as the moon enters the outer part of the shadow and begins to dim completely, according to NASA.
A partial eclipse begins at 1:09 p.m. when the Moon enters the Earth’s umbra and begins to darken.
Tomorrow night at 2:26 p.m., when the full moon is under the umbra, this is when the blood moon will show its reddish hues.
As the moon exits the umbra around 3:31 a.m., the red color will disappear and another bite-like display will appear, this time on the other side of the moon. NASA explains that the total eclipse is likely to end by 6 a.m.
