ST. LOUIS - Stargazers are in for a treat later in the week. Coming almost a year after the region was treated to a total solar eclipse, we now will get to experience the nighttime equivalent. This will be the first since November of 2022.
The total lunar eclipse will mostly take place in the early Friday morning hours of March 14, but it will begin on Thursday night, March 13. A lunar eclipse occurs when the Sun, Earth, and Moon align to where the Moon passes through Earth's shadow.
The penumbra eclipse will begin at 10:57 p.m. Thursday night when the moon enters Earth's partial shadow. The penumbra is where the sun is only partially blocked by the Earth. During this phase, the dimming of the moon will begin, but it'll be a subtle effect.
The partial eclipse will begin at 12:09 a.m. as the moon enters the darkest part of the Earth's shadow, called the umbra, which is the part of the Earth's shadow where the sun is completely hidden.
Scientists at NASA say that during this phase, to the naked eye, it'll look like a bite is being taken out of the lunar disk. The part of the Moon inside the umbra will appear very dark.
When the last of the moon enters the umbra, the total eclipse begins. This will be at 1:25 a.m.
During the total eclipse, which will last over an hour, NASA scientists say the moon will appear as a red-orange color. Due to this phenomenon, lunar eclipses are sometimes called 'Blood Moons'.
Binoculars will help with viewing and if you want to take a photo, use a camera on a tripod with exposures of at least several seconds.
The maximum eclipse will happen at 1:58 a.m. with the total eclipse ending at 2:31 a.m.
At 3:47 a.m. the partial eclipse ends and the penumbral eclipse ends at 5 a.m. Friday morning.
Following Thursday night's eclipse, the next total lunar eclipse will take place on March 3, 2026.
Viewing of the eclipse will depend on sky conditions but with the total eclipse lasting over an hour, even scattered clouds should lead to decent viewing. The current St. Louis forecast for Thursday night and Friday morning calls for partly cloudy skies and mild overnight temperatures in the mid 50s.