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A Lunar Eclipse Will Be On Full View Thursday

The eclipse is also known as a “blood moon” because of its reddish-orange hue.

A near-total lunar eclipse will be visible from North America, South America, and parts of Europe and Africa on Thursday night. The eclipse is also known as a “blood moon” because the moon takes on a reddish-orange hue as sunlight passes through Earth’s atmosphere, which filters out much of the blue light. Lunar eclipses happen when Earth moves between the sun and moon, casting a shadow on the lunar surface. The blood moon will begin at 9:23 p.m. ET and reach its peak at 12:12 a.m. ET, when more than 96 percent of the lunar surface will be enveloped. At 3:01 a.m. ET, the moon will exit Earth’s shadow. Unlike solar eclipses, lunar eclipses are safe to watch without eye protection, and binoculars or telescopes can offer an even closer look. Solar and lunar eclipses often occur in pairs because they depend on similar alignments of the Sun, Earth and Moon. A solar eclipse recently darkened skies in Spain, a small part of Portugal, Greenland, Iceland and northern Russia on August 12.