This March 14th, a total lunar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes completely through the Earth’s dark shadow, or umbra. During this type of eclipse, the Moon will gradually get darker and then take on a rusty or blood red color. The eclipse will be visible throughout all of North America, Mexico, Central America, and South America.
It will be visible from Baton Rouge in the south-western sky. The Moon will lie 60° above the horizon at the midpoint of the eclipse.
The total eclipse will last from 01:26 until 02:31. The Moon will be partially eclipsed between 00:10 and 03:48 (all times given in Baton Rouge time).
Eclipses of the Moon are easy to watch with the unaided eye. A modest pair of binoculars will give a superb view of the Moon’s surface but are not required. Unlike solar eclipses, lunar eclipses are entirely safe to look at without the need to look through any kind of filter.
They occur whenever the Earth passes between the Moon and Sun, such that it obscures the Sun’s light and casts a shadow onto the Moon’s surface.
When the Moon’s disk lies entirely in shadow, it often takes on a spectacular reddish-brown color, as some of the Sun’s red light is bent around the edge of the Earth’s globe by its atmosphere.
Lunar eclipses occur when the Sun, Earth and Moon are aligned in a straight line, so that the Earth passes between the Sun and Moon and casts a shadow onto the latter’s surface.
Each time the Moon orbits the Earth, it passes almost opposite to the Sun in the sky as it reaches Full Moon. If the Moon orbited the Earth in exactly the same plane that the Earth orbits the Sun, the Earth would pass between the Sun and Moon and create a lunar eclipse at Full Moon every month.
In fact, the Moon’s orbit is tipped up at an angle of 5° relative to the Earth’s orbit around the Sun. This means that the alignment of the Sun—Earth—Moon line at Full Moon usually isn’t exact. As a result, an observer on the Moon would see the Earth pass a few degrees to the side of the Sun.
