March 06, 2025
Mike De Sisti/Milwaukee Journal Sentinel; USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
A total lunar eclipse, also known as a 'blood moon,' will be visible in the Philly region next week. Above, a total lunar eclipse as seen near Milwaukee in 2022.
The moon will be a glowing red spectacle in the sky next week, and the best time for local skywatchers to catch the celestial show will be during the early hours of Friday, March 14.
In a total lunar eclipse, like the one happening over the Western Hemisphere, the entire moon falls within the darkest part of Earth's shadow. In the Philly region, the peak of the phenomenon, known as totality, can be viewed between 2:26 a.m. and 3:31 a.m.
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"What we will see is kind of a disappearing and a reappearing act done by the moon," said Deborah Skapik, who teaches physics at Saint Joseph's University and Friends' Central School in Wynnewood. "As the moon goes into the Earth's shadow, we will see it disappear. But what's really cool about lunar eclipses is that when the moon is in Earth's shadow, sometimes some of the light from the sun sneaks through the Earth's atmosphere, and it can still shine onto the moon, casting a reddish or an orangish glow. So that's fun to see."
There are "wrinkles" in the Earth's atmosphere that remove the short wavelengths of blue light and the green light out of the sunlight, so all that's permitted to pass through is the red, Skapik explained. This is how the red-orange coloring lands on the moon in a total lunar eclipse, inspiring the nickname blood moon.
"It can be kind of mysterious looking because that bright full moon glowing disappears into the shadow, and then pop, it all of a sudden turns red, and that can be pretty exciting to see," she said.
The lunar eclipse will be the "opposite" of what was seen last April when skywatchers wore their special eclipse glasses to watch as the Earth moved underneath the moon's shadow during the solar eclipse across North America, Skapik said. Unlike that event, which took place here in the afternoon, the blood moon will be a spectacle better suited to "night owls," she added.
If you're hoping to catch a glimpse of the total lunar eclipse, the first over North America since 2022, you may want to push back your bedtime or set your alarm for about 1:09 a.m. and head outside every five minutes or so to watch the progress of the eclipse, Skapik recommends. The penumbral eclipse — when the moon enters the Earth's penumbra, or gray outer shadow — begins earlier than that, around midnight, but that would be difficult for the "casual observer" to spot, Skapik said.
The "most exciting part," according to Skapik, begins around 1:09 a.m. At that time, the partial lunar eclipse starts, when the moon will begin to enter Earth's umbra, the darkest part of its shadow.
"(This is) when you'll start to see the Earth's shadow nibbling away at the edge of the moon," Skapik said. "... It's exciting because it's hard to predict, 'How dark is that red going to be?'"
During totality, when the entire moon is in the Earth's umbra, not much will change visually within that hourlong timeframe, Skapik said. From 3:31 a.m. until 4:47 a.m., there will be a partial eclipse again as the moon emerges from the darkest shadow, and then a penumbral eclipse, which will be less visible, will occur until 6 a.m. when the whole event is over.
Unlike in a solar eclipse, when you need to wear special safety glasses, there aren't many particular stipulations to watching a blood moon.
"Anybody who has a view of the full moon could see it," Skapik said. "Away from tall buildings is probably a good idea because you just need a view to the sky. The moon will be kind of more toward the western part of the sky at that time of the morning, so that the full moon is sort of setting as the sun rises. So a clearer view to the southwest would probably be helpful for this event."
Skapik also recommends grabbing some blankets and a warm beverage — like hot chocolate or coffee, for a little kick of caffeine to stay up — if it's chilly Thursday night. The latest forecast calls for mostly cloudy skies with a low temperature of 45 degrees.
For her part, Skapik, who's a NASA partner eclipse ambassador, said she plans to watch and photograph the lunar eclipse next week. She also is sharing some viewing tips with her students at St. Joe's — "because college students do tend to stay up a bit later, so they might actually see this happen," she said. — and Friends' Central, many of whom went on a field trip with her in April to watch the total solar eclipse from an ideal viewing spot in Vermont. Some of those high school students are now planning a sleepover to watch it together, and they asked if Skapik would join via Zoom to explain some of the red-orange spectacle as it unfolds and share in the wonder.
"It is a fun bonding experience, just kind of watching it, checking it out, this thing that the whole hemisphere of the world can see," Skapik said. "It's kind of lovely."
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