A blood-red moon will grace the skies for a total lunar eclipse on Monday evening — and there won’t be another until late 2028.

Unfortunately, local conditions will prevent many — but, most likely, not all — San Diegans from seeing the spectacle, which will begin at 12:44 a.m.

California Live contributor Vianey Arana visits the Chabot Space & Science Center in Oakland ahead of the March 3 total lunar eclipse, often called a “Blood Moon.” The center is hosting a special overnight watch party from 1 a.m. to 5 a.m.
 

Full eclipse — also known as “totality,” where the moon is covered by the Earth’s shadow — will occur a little over two hours, later, at 3:04 a.m., with the event concluding with moonset at 6:18 on Tuesday morning.

The sky show will be obscured for many in San Diego, however, by clouds by the coast, or, possibly, fog developing overnight, according to NBC 7 meteorologist Sheena Parveen. The chances of seeing the eclipse, though, increase the farther hopefuls are from the coast. For example, inland valleys will likely only have partially cloudy skies.

The show unfolds over several hours, with totality lasting about an hour. For those in the path, there’s no need for any special equipment to observe, though it never hurts to have binoculars or a telescope if one is handy.

The spectacle will be visible Tuesday morning from North America, Central America and the western part of South America. Australia and eastern Asia can catch it on Tuesday night. Partial stages of the eclipse with small bites taken out of the moon can be seen from Central Asia and much of South America. Africa and Europe will be shut out.

Solar and lunar eclipses happen due to a precise alignment of the sun, moon and Earth. There are between four and seven a year, according to NASA.

The eclipses tend to follow each other, taking advantage of the sweet spot in the celestial bodies’ orbits. Tuesday’s total eclipse of the moon comes two weeks after a ‘ring of fire’ solar eclipse that dazzled people and penguins in Antarctica.

During a total lunar eclipse, the Earth is between the sun and full moon, casting a shadow that covers the moon. The so-called blood moon looks red because of stray bits of sunlight filtering through Earth’s atmosphere.

Compared to a solar eclipse, “the lunar eclipse is a little more of a relaxed pace,” said Catherine Miller at Middlebury College’s Mittelman Observatory.

There’s a partial lunar eclipse on the docket for August, visible across the Americas, Europe, Africa and west Asia.