Tonight there will be an eclipse visible in North America (at least where the clouds part). It will
start a few minutes before 1 a.m. EDT and slowly continue over the next two hours until it peaks (reaches totality) about 3 a.m. Tuesday. On the West Coast, it starts about 10 p.m. Monday night and reaches totality just after midnight.
A bonus: This eclipse will be a “blood moon,” in which our nearest celestial neighbor will look the color of a desert sunset. The reason? Because “even when the Earth moves directly between the moon and the sun, filtered sunlight still shines through Earth’s atmosphere, making the moon appear red.”
If you miss this one, there will be three more in the coming year and half.
- There’s A ‘Blood Moon’ Eclipse Tonight, But Will You Be Able To See It? : The Two-Way : NPR
- Seeing red: Heavens to unveil a total lunar eclipse early Tuesday morning – Washington Post
Skunk Bear‘s Adam Cole welcomes the eclipse with a song:
More about the eclipse and four other sky highlights this month: 5 Sky Events This Week: Full Lunar Eclipse and Lord of the Rings – National Geographic