WASHINGTON — The first total lunar eclipse since 2022 flushed the moon red Thursday night into Friday morning across North and South America.
Did you miss it due to cloudy weather or just a good night’s sleep? Don’t fret! You can check out the photo gallery below to see what it looked like across the United States. Plus, there’s another celestial event coming up later this month that’ll be visible for part of the country.
The total lunar eclipse, known as a “blood moon,” began reaching totality around 2:26 a.m. Eastern time on Friday — this is the phase when the moon looks to be a coppery red.
Lunar eclipses happen when the moon, Earth and sun align just so.
When is the next lunar eclipse?
If you weren’t able to catch this one, you won’t have to wait too long until the next total lunar eclipse is visible
According to NASA, on March 3, 2026, another total lunar eclipse will be visible from the Americas. Just a few months later, a partial lunar eclipse will be visible on Aug. 27-28, 2026.
After that, our next total lunar eclipse won’t happen again until June 2029.
‘Blood moon’ lunar eclipse seen across the US
When is the next solar eclipse?
Eclipses always come in pairs, meaning a solar eclipse will follow a few weeks after this total lunar eclipse.
On March 29, 2025, a partial solar eclipse will be visible from parts of North America, Europe, Asia, Africa and South America, according to NASA.
However, just 14 northeastern states and Washington, D.C., will get a glimpse of the March 2025 partial solar eclipse, according to timeanddate.com.
During a solar eclipse, the sun is blocked by the moon and special glasses are needed to safely view the spectacle.
Why does the moon turn red during a lunar eclipse?
The moon appears to turn crimson thanks to the same process that makes our skies blue and our sunsets red, NASA says.
When sunlight passes through Earth’s atmosphere, blue light scatters more easily while red light travels more directly through the air. During a lunar eclipse, some of the sunlight passes all the way through the Earth’s atmosphere and reaches the moon’s surface, giving it a subtle glow.
“It’s as if all the world’s sunrises and sunsets are projected onto the Moon,” NASA says.
The space agency says the intensity of the moon’s color depends on the amount of dust or clouds in the Earth’s atmosphere at the time of the eclipse — the more clouds or dust there is, the redder it appears.
To stream KVUE on your phone, you need the KVUE app.
Download the KVUE app
