Contacts:

Diana Hannikainen, Editor-in-Chief, Sky & Telescope

+1 617-500-6793 ×22100, [email protected]

J. Kelly Beatty, Senior Editor, Sky & Telescope

+1 617-416-9991, [email protected]

Susanna Kohler, Communications Manager and Press Officer, American Astronomical Society

+1 202-328-2010 ×127, [email protected]

Note to Editors/Producers: This release is accompanied by high-quality graphics; see the end of this release for the images and links to download.

Viewers throughout North America — as well as South America, westernmost Europe and Africa, and New Zealand — will see the Moon darken and turn a reddish hue on the night of March 13–14. “Make sure you don’t miss this disappearing act, for it’s the first total lunar eclipse visible anywhere since November 2022,” says Diana Hannikainen (pronounced HUHN-ih-KY-nen), , Editor in Chief at Sky & Telescope. All 50 U.S. states will see this celestial event, which begins after midnight on March 14th in eastern North America but before midnight on the 13th out west.

“A lunar eclipse happens when the Sun, Earth, and a full Moon form a near-perfect lineup in space, in what is known as syzygy,” says Hannikainen. The Moon slides into Earth’s shadow, gradually darkening, until the entire lunar disk turns from brilliant white to an eerie dim orange or coppery color — only more rarely does it turn a dark red. Then events unfold in reverse order, until the Moon returns to full brilliance.

A complete coverup (totality) will last for 66 minutes, centered on 6:59 Universal Time (2:59 a.m. EDT and 11:59 p.m. PDT). But the Moon’s slow crawl through all of Earth’s shadow will take a bit more than six hours from end to end. You’ll only need your eyes to see the drama unfold, but binoculars or a backyard telescope will give a much-enhanced view.

During totality, the Moon won’t black out completely. That’s because Earth’s atmosphere scatters and bends (refracts) the sunlight that skims its edges and passes through our atmosphere, diverting some of it onto the eclipsed Moon. If you were on the Moon during a lunar eclipse, you’d see the Sun hidden by a dark Earth rimmed with the reddish light of all the sunrises and sunsets ringing the world at that moment.

The umbral glow can be quite different from one eclipse to the next. Two main factors affect its brightness and hue. The first is simply how deeply the Moon goes into the umbra as it passes through; the center of the umbra is darker than its edges. The other is the state of Earth’s atmosphere. If lots of clouds are present along the day-night terminator, or if a major volcanic eruption has recently polluted the stratosphere with thin global haze, a lunar eclipse can be dark red, ashen brown, or very rarely almost black.

There are several delightful extras viewers can look out for while admiring the eclipse. For example, because the Moon is not passing directly through the center of Earth’s umbra, during totality you will likely see that the top half of the lunar disk is slightly brighter than its bottom half. Also, Earth’s shadow dims the Moon sufficiently for stars to be visible right up to its edge. And skywatchers often gauge the darkness of totality using a five-step guide called the Danjon scale.

All stages of the eclipse occur simultaneously for everyone, but not everyone will see the full eclipse. Weather permitting, observers in North America will witness the entirety of the event on the night of March 13–14, with the exception of western Alaska and Hawai‘i where viewers will only miss out on the start of the penumbral phase. Observers in western Europe will see the totally eclipsed Moon as it sets, while those in New Zealand will be treated to the sight of the totally eclipsed Moon rising. 

The actual clock times of the eclipse depend on your time zone. See the table below for times of the eclipse’s key phases (any “pm” time occurs on March 13th, and “am” times occurs on March 14th):

Eclipse EventUTADTEDTCDTMDTPDTAKDTHASTPenumbra first visible?~4:30~1:30 am~12:30 am~11:30 pm~10:30 pm~9:30 pm~8:30 pm~6:30 pmPartial eclipse begins5:092:09 am1:09 am12:09 a.m.11:09 pm10:09 p.m.9:09 pm7:09 pmTotal eclipse begins6:263:26 am2:26 am1:26 am12:26 am11:26 p.m.10:26 pm8:26 pmMid-eclipse6:593:59 am2:59 am1:59 am12:59 am11:59 pm10:59 pm8:59 pmTotal eclipse ends7:324:32 am3:32 am2:32 am1:32 am12:32 am11:32 pm9:32 pmPartial eclipse ends8:485:48 am4:48 am3:48 am2:48 am1:48 am12:48 am10:48 pmPenumbra last visible?~9:30~6:30 am~5:30 a.m.~4:30 am~3:30 am~2:30 am~1:30 am~11:30 pm

Source: U.S. Naval Observatory

The events that happen during a total lunar eclipse are more complex and interesting than many people realize. The event has five stages, stretched over 5 hours, each with different things to watch.

(1) The Moon’s leading edge enters the pale outer fringe of Earth’s shadow: the penumbra. You probably won’t notice anything until the Moon is about halfway across the penumbra. Watch for a slight darkening on the Moon’s left side as seen from North America. The penumbral shading becomes stronger as the Moon moves deeper in. The penumbra is the region where an astronaut standing on the Moon would see Earth covering only part of the Sun’s face.

(2) The Moon’s leading edge enters the umbra, the cone of Earth’s shadow within which the Sun’s completely hidden. You should notice a dramatic darkening on the leading edge of the lunar disk. With a telescope, you can watch the edge of the umbra slowly engulfing one lunar feature after another, as the entire sky begins to grow darker.

(3) The trailing edge of the Moon slips into the umbra for the beginning of total eclipse. But the Moon won’t black out completely: It’s sure to glow some shade of intense orange or red. Why is this? The Earth’s atmosphere scatters and bends (refracts) sunlight that skims its edges, diverting some of it onto the eclipsed Moon.

(4) As the Moon progresses along its orbit, events replay in reverse order. The Moon’s edge re-emerges into sunlight, ending totality and beginning a partial eclipse again.

(5) When all of the Moon escapes the umbra, only the last, penumbral shading is left. Some time later, nothing unusual remains.

Your readers/viewers can get more details at Sky & Telescope’s website.

Read all about the Danjon scale and other things to look for during the eclipse.

Sky & Telescope is making the illustrations below available to editors and producers. Permission is granted for nonexclusive use in print and broadcast media, as long as appropriate credits (as noted) are included. Web publication must include a link to skyandtelescope.org.

Those in North and South America have ringside seats for the total lunar eclipse on March 13–14, 2025. For locations in the western half of North America, Hawaii, and the western Pacific, the eclipse begins on the evening of March 14th. For those in eastern North America and South America, the event occurs before dawn on March 14th.

Sky & Telescope

Here are the key events for the lunar eclipse, plotted for Universal Time. Please refer to the table above for corresponding times in various time zones. As shown here, celestial north is at the top; that direction is rotated counterclockwise (toward left) in your sky near moonrise and toward right near moonset.) This graphic is also available as an unlabeled version, as well as versions for the PDT, MDT, CDT, EDT, and ADT time zones.

Sky & Telescope

If Earth had no atmosphere, the Moon would look completely black during a total lunar eclipse. However, a little red-hued sunlight refracts through the atmosphere and into Earth’s umbra, coloring the lunar disk during totality. (Not shown to scale!)

Sky & Telescope

This sequence shows the end-to-end progression of the total lunar eclipse (starting at lower right) on September 28, 2015. For this event, the Moon passed through the southern half of Earth’s shadow, so during totality the bottom of the Moon looks brighter than the top half.

Sean Walker

A sequence of exposures during not-quite-total lunar eclipse on November 19, 2021, dramatically shows the Moon passing through Earth’s circular umbral shadow.

Zolt Levay Photography

Astronomers use this five-step “Danjon scale” to judge the darkness of the Moon during a total lunar eclipse.

Sky & Telescope

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