By Aidan Mortensen | KOAL News| File Photo

Turn around and look to the sky on the evening of Thursday, March 13, as a total eclipse of the Moon graces the Castle Country Area. This lunar event is expected to begin around 10 p.m. and last six hours into the early morning of Friday, March 14.

A lunar eclipse occurs when the Moon, the Sun and the Earth align to position the Moon into the Earth’s shadow. This creates an orange-red tint to the Moon, commonly referred to as a “Blood Moon.”

“The show will start officially just after 10 p.m. when the Moon enters Earth’s rather fuzzy outer shadow,” says NASA/JPL Solar System Ambassador to Utah Patrick Wiggins. “But the main event will start at 12:26 a.m. when the entire Moon will be engulfed in Earth’s dark shadow and totality begins.”

Totality is expected to begin at 12:59 a.m. and end at 1:32 a.m. Friday. According to Wiggins,” That will signal the start of the partial phase, which will last until 2:48 a.m., with maybe some light shading being visible for another 30 minutes or so.”

This marks the first time since 2022 that Utahns will be able to witness a total lunar eclipse. The next opportunity to view the phenomenon is expected in March of 2026.

For the Blue Ghost spacecraft from Firefly Aerospace, the event becomes more intriguing considering it is positioned on the surface of the Moon. While on Earth we view the lunar eclipse, the Blue Ghost will capture images and record data of an eclipse of the sun.

The naked eye can view this eclipse, and unlike traditional eclipses, it can be observed without the use of protective equipment such as eclipse glasses.

For more information regarding the eclipse and general moon-watching tips, you can visit the NASA Daily Moon Guide, which provides lunar observation recommendations for each day of the year.