What will happen on March 13-14, 2025? For 65 minutes overnight tonight — Thursday, March 13 through Friday, March 14 — the first “blood moon” total lunar eclipse since 2022 will be seen from North America, clear skies allowing.
See below for the exact times for every timezone in North America, but rest assured that wherever you observe from, totality — when the lunar surface turns a reddish-brown color (a.k.a. the “blood moon” moments) — is something truly special. The cause? All of Earth’s sunrises and sunsets are projected onto the moon, according to NASA.
How A Total Lunar Eclipse Works
A total lunar eclipse occurs when the full moon passes through Earth’s dark umbral shadow. During the partial phase, you'll see the curved edge of Earth's shadow gradually envelop the moon, dulling it and slowly turning it red. For 65 minutes tonight, it will be completely red. It’s because the only light that can reach the moon while it's in Earth's shadow — which blocks direct sunlight from reaching it — is first being filtered and scattered by Earth's atmosphere.
Why A ‘Blood Moon’ Is Red
As blue and violet short-wavelength light strikes atoms in Earth's atmosphere, they scatter. Red and orange long-wavelength light gets through more easily, striking fewer atoms before being bent (refracted) onto the lunar surface.
This is Raleigh scattering, and it's why sunrises and sunsets appear red on Earth. It's the same reddish glow — effectively from every sunrise and sunset around the Earth’s edge — bent by Earth’s atmosphere and projected onto the moon during totality.
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Why The Color Of A ‘Blood Moon’ Can Vary
In practice, a “blood moon” isn’t what it sounds. Although volcanic ash in the atmosphere can make it appear dark red, it's more often a red-orange-copper color, with pinks and browns also evident.
It’s also not a uniform color since the moon rarely passes plumb through the center of Earth's umbra. During tonight's event, the full moon will pass through the northern part of Earth's umbra, causing the lower half of the moon (as seen from the Northern Hemisphere) likely to be darker than the upper half.
Eastern Daylight Time (EDT). The Moon moves right to left, passing through the penumbra and umbra, ... [+] leaving in its wake an eclipse diagram with the times at various stages of the eclipse.NASA's Scientific Visualization Studio
When Is The Total Lunar Eclipse 2025?
Here’s everything you need to know about the times of the total lunar eclipse for every U.S. state, but here’s a summary of the exact times of totality:
Eastern: 2:26-3:31 a.m. EDT on Friday, March 14.
Central: 1:26 a.m. to 2:31 a.m. CDT on Friday, March 14.
Mountain: 12:26-1:31 a.m. MDT on Friday, March 14.
Pacific: 11:26 p.m. PST on Thursday, March 13, to 12:31 a.m. PDT on Friday, March 14.
Alaska: 10:26-11:31 p.m. ADT on Thursday, March 13.
Hawaii): 8:26-9:31 p.m. HST on Thursday, March 13.
Wishing you clear skies and wide eyes.