Early birds will notice an unusual sight in the pre-dawn sky on Tuesday, March 3 — an unusually red “blood moon” caused by a lunar eclipse.
“A lunar eclipse is when the moon passes into the shadow of the Earth,” said Dr. Michael Cushing, a professor of astronomy at The University of Toledo.
The blood moon moniker is a nod to the vivid red-orange hue that the moon takes on during a lunar eclipse. Cushing explained that it’s the result of the way sunlight passes through the atmosphere, with blue light scattering and red light refracting around the Earth.
Lunar eclipses occur roughly every six months. And unlike the high-profile solar eclipse that brought dramatic mid-afternoon darkness to campus in 2024, they’re perfectly safe to view with the naked eye.
“Don’t worry about eye protection,” Cushing said. “Just go out and enjoy the view.”
To catch sight of the upcoming lunar eclipse, the astronomer recommends looking toward the western horizon as early as about 5 a.m. Earth’s shadow will gradually eclipse the moon through about 6 a.m., when the moon will take on its red hue until sunrise steals the view.
Toledo stargazers may want to pay extra attention beginning at about 6:13 a.m., Cushing added. That’s when the International Space Station will be visible simultaneously over Toledo, appearing as a bright star moving from the western to the southeastern sky.
“So from 6:13 to 6:19 a.m., you not only get the total lunar eclipse, but you get the International Space Station slowly moving across our sky,” Cushing said.
Cushing is the director of UToledo’s Ritter Planetarium, which promotes astronomy education in the community through a variety of public programming. For more information, go to the planetarium website.
