58 minutes of totality, when Earth's shadow turns the Moon deep red. The next blood moon, visible across the Americas, Asia, Australia and the Pacific — and why it happens.
| Phase | Time UTC | What happens |
|---|---|---|
| Penumbra begins | 09:51 | Subtle dimming, hard to notice |
| Partial begins | 10:08 | A dark bite appears on the Moon |
| Totality begins | 11:04 | Moon fully red — the blood moon |
| Greatest eclipse | 11:33 | Deepest, reddest moment |
| Totality ends | 12:02 | Red fades, bright limb returns |
| Partial ends | 12:58 | Last shadow leaves the disk |
| Penumbra ends | 15:18 | Eclipse fully over |
Greatest eclipse (11:33 UTC) translates to: US Pacific 03:33 PST · US Eastern 06:33 EST · Tokyo 20:33 JST · Sydney 22:33 AEDT. For the Americas this is a pre-dawn event; for Asia and Australia, an evening one. The Moon must be above your local horizon.
During a total lunar eclipse the Earth sits directly between the Sun and the Moon, casting its shadow across the lunar surface. But the Moon doesn't vanish — it glows a deep coppery red. The reason is Earth's atmosphere.
Sunlight grazing the edge of our planet is bent (refracted) into the shadow. Along the way, the atmosphere scatters away short blue wavelengths — the same physics that makes the sky blue and sunsets red — leaving only the long red and orange wavelengths to continue on and fall on the Moon. In a very real sense, the eclipsed Moon is lit by the combined light of every sunrise and sunset happening on Earth at that moment.
The exact shade — from bright orange to dark brick-red — depends on how much dust, cloud and volcanic ash is in the atmosphere. After major volcanic eruptions, blood moons can turn almost black.
A blood moon is completely safe to watch with the naked eye — no glasses, no filters. Unlike a solar eclipse, there is zero risk to your vision. Binoculars or a small telescope reveal the colour gradient across the lunar surface beautifully, but the unaided eye is enough. You don't need to be in a narrow path either: anyone on the night side of Earth facing the Moon sees the same event at the same instant.