A total lunar eclipse blood moon will fill the sky over Ontario this week

Britnei Bilhete · CBC News

· Posted: Mar 13, 2025 5:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 10 minutes ago

If you look up astatine the entity late, precocious Thursday successful the Toronto area, there's a accidental you'll beryllium capable to spot a full lunar eclipse and what's called a humor moon.

The cleanable alignment of the sun, Earth, and satellite volition overgarment the afloat satellite a red-orange colour, with the remaining rays peaking retired from astir our planet, according to NASA.

"Total lunar eclipses are a small spot much rare, but they're ever truly striking to see," Ontario Science Centre's unit astronomer Rachel Ward-Maxwell told CBC Toronto.

"What's truly peculiar astir these sorts of events is it connects america with truthful galore antithetic radical from each antithetic parts of the planet… that is simply a truly special, unifying feeling."

This lawsuit is really 2 occurrences coming together: a full eclipse of the satellite by the Earth astatine the aforesaid clip arsenic it goes done a afloat satellite signifier for March.

Though lunar eclipses hap astir doubly a year, what benignant of presumption stargazers get depends connected your clip zone. 

Luckily for the Toronto country and Ontario, we'll person the accidental to spot the afloat grade of the humor satellite against the nighttime entity — truthful agelong arsenic the upwind permits and skies are clear.

WATCH | NASA footage of a humor moon: 

"This clip we win," Dr. Ralph Chou, an eclipse-chaser and past president of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada, Toronto Centre, said, blessed that helium tin ticker his eclipse from home. 

Chou says he'll beryllium staying up precocious and utilizing his backyard observatory — a SkyShed POD made successful Canada — to instrumentality pictures of the lunar eclipse.

"Eclipses are peculiar due to the fact that they are are portion of the creation of the Earth and the satellite astir the sun… And it's particularly bully erstwhile you don't person to question for it," helium said.

The lawsuit officially starts astatine 11:57 p.m. connected Thursday, reaching its champion form, totality, astatine 2:26 a.m. Friday and ends astatine 6:00 a.m.

Another lunar eclipse won't beryllium disposable connected this broadside of the satellite until 2029.

Why does the satellite look humor red?

Even though during a full eclipse, the Earth covers the satellite from the sun's nonstop path, the leftover airy creates the aforesaid red-orange hue, the aforesaid mode sunsets do, says Elaina Hyde, astronomer, subordinate prof and manager of the Allan I. Carswell Observatory astatine York University.

"The reddish humor satellite is simply a truly absorbing effect due to the fact that the redness comes from Earth's atmosphere," she said, explaining however the ambiance bends the light, causing the reddish hues to radiance connected the moon.

However, the shadiness of reddish depends connected different conditions, similar what's happening successful the ambiance astatine that aforesaid time, Chou says. If there's a tempest oregon if a volcano erupts, airy is obscured and the satellite appears acheronian red, but if the aerial is wide it'll radiance an orangish hue.

Unlike a star eclipse oregon different cosmic events that necessitate oculus extortion oregon equipment, a lunar eclipse tin beryllium enjoyed easy — conscionable look up.