Mark Your Calendar: Total Lunar Eclipse Will Bring Blood Moon March 13-14.
Just step outside on the evening of March 13 or early in the morning of March 14 and take a look at the total lunar eclipse for yourself.
A lunar eclipse occurs when the Sun, Earth, and Moon align so that the Moon passes into Earth’s shadow.
In a total lunar eclipse, the entire Moon falls within the darkest part of Earth’s shadow, called the umbra.
When the Moon is within the umbra, it appears red-orange. Lunar eclipses are sometimes called “Blood Moons” because of this phenomenon.
In Huntsville, the eclipse will begin in partial phases at 10:57 p.m. on March 13, and end at 5:00 a.m. on March 14. Totality will begin at 1:26 a.m. and end at 2:31, with maximum eclipse occurring at 1:58. View more information on times to observe the eclipse in the Western Hemisphere.
“With March being a pretty typical month for spring showers, there’s roughly a 50/50 chance it’ll be cloudy, so keep a close eye on the weather forecast leading up to the eclipse,” Weber said. “That totality will last for close to an hour, so even if it’s cloudy you may still be able to glimpse it if the clouds are scattered.”
No special equipment is needed if the clouds cooperate. And moving away from bright lights will give you a better view, as will binoculars.
Why does the Moon turn that odd shade of red?
According to NASA, some of the sunlight passing through Earth’s atmosphere reaches the Moon’s surface, lighting it dimly.
Colors with shorter wavelengths – the blues and violets – scatter more easily than colors with longer wavelengths, like red and orange.
Because these longer wavelengths make it through Earth’s atmosphere, and the shorter wavelengths have scattered away, the Moon appears orange or reddish during a lunar eclipse.
The more dust or clouds in Earth’s atmosphere during the eclipse, the redder the Moon appears.
