As the full moon began to set over North America in the early morning hours of March 3, it briefly sank into the darkest part of Earth’s shadow, resulting in the last total lunar eclipse visible in the United States until 2029.
If you missed the early morning spectacle, you can still watch the whole thing unfold via a live stream recording or enjoy some of the first images from the event below.
Lasting a total of about 5 hours and 39 minutes, the lunar eclipse began at midnight for most North American skywatchers, with a spectacular “total” phase — a roughly hour-long period during which the moon drifts through the center of Earth’s dark umbra — lasting about an hour.
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Viewers on the East Coast had little chance to see the total star until about 6-7 a.m. ET, just as the moon sank below the horizon. Those living in the CST and PST time zones had a good chance of seeing the moon turn red in the early morning hours (weather and cloud cover permitting).
Skywatchers in Australia, New Zealand and East Asia also took in the auspicious view, and up to 3 billion people around the world could see at least part of the eclipse, according to Live Science’s sister site Space.com.
A total lunar eclipse is also called a “blood moon” because of the reddish hue the moon takes on as it slides into Earth’s umbra.
This is due to an effect known as Rayleigh scattering, in which different wavelengths of sunlight are selectively filtered through Earth’s atmosphere before hitting the Moon’s surface. The short, blue wavelengths are absorbed by the atmosphere, while the long, red wavelengths pass through the atmosphere, making the moon bloody. (If you think the effect looks cool from Earth, wait until you see what it looks like on the Moon.)
Solar eclipses always occur in pairs, with each lunar eclipse occurring two weeks before or after the solar eclipse. This year, a lucky few humans (and many penguins) had the chance to witness a “ring solar eclipse” over Antarctica two weeks ago, on February 17th. This is the view from France and Italy’s Concordia research station in Antarctica.
The next total lunar eclipse in North America will be June 26, 2029.
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