Skywatchers are being urged to savor the March 3 total lunar eclipse, a celestial spectacle that will not be repeated for nearly three years.
Observers across East Asia, Australia, the Pacific and western North America will witness March’s full moon — traditionally called the “Worm Moon” — slip into Earth’s shadow and glow a haunting reddish-copper hue for 58 mesmerizing minutes. Once the moon emerges from the planet’s darkest shadow, however, a prolonged pause in total eclipses will begin, lasting until a precisely timed event on New Year’s Eve 2028–2029.
Astronomers say 2029 will not only end the drought but usher in a trio of striking “blood moon” total lunar eclipses.
Why the Moon Turns Red
A lunar eclipse unfolds when a full moon drifts into Earth’s constant, cone-shaped shadow, cast into space from the planet’s night side. That shadow has two layers: the lighter outer penumbra and the darker inner umbra.
Because the sun is larger than Earth, its light is blocked unevenly. When the moon passes fully into the umbra — the deepest, darkest core — direct sunlight is cut off. The only illumination that reaches the lunar surface is sunlight filtered through Earth’s atmosphere. Shorter blue wavelengths scatter away, while longer red wavelengths bend inward, bathing the moon in a coppery glow known as a “blood moon.”
There are three types of lunar eclipses:
