This eclipse is a long one, with totality lasting 85 minutes, almost an hour and a half! 
The “Blood Moon” is back! The Moon may appear red because Earth’s atmosphere absorbs the other colors while it bends some sunlight toward the moon. This will be the last total lunar eclipse until March 13-14, 2025! This total lunar eclipse is the first one to occur on election day in the United States. This will not happen again until November 8, 2394. Find out more
During a lunar eclipse, Earth gets in the way of the sun’s light hitting the moon. That means that during the night, a full moon fades away as Earth’s shadow covers it up.
The eclipse occurs on Tuesday morning, November 8, 2022, for most people but for those in time zones to the west of PST, the eclipse is Monday night, November 7, 2022.
At least some of the eclipse will be visible from Asia, Australia, North America, parts of northeastern Europe, and South America. This is the second eclipse of the second eclipse season of 2022. There was a partial solar eclipse on October 25, 2022.
Because the last lunar eclipse was so recent (May 15-16, 2022), it may seem like you’ll have a lot of opportunities to see one. NOPE!
The next total lunar eclipse is in 2 years, 4 months, 5 days, on March 13–14, 2025! Even then, it’s location and weather dependent. Take the opportunity to enjoy this sky show!
How can you see it?
No special glasses are needed for a lunar eclipse!! Unlike the Corey Hart song, you don’t need to wear your sunglasses* at night! 😎
If you’re in the viewing areas below, you can go outside, or watch online.
Where can you see it?
A map showing where the November 7-8, 2022 lunar eclipse is visible. Contours mark the edge of the visibility region at eclipse contact times. The map is centered on 168°57’W, the sublunar longitude at mid-eclipse. Image via the NASA SVS
Map of where the total lunar eclipse of November 7-8, 2022 will be visible. Image via Dominic Ford and in-the-sky.org
Why is the moon red?
The moon is red during a total lunar eclipse because of the same effect that creates sunrises and sunsets.
Colors of shorter wavelengths like blue are scattered more by Earth’s atmosphere than the longer wavelengths like red. When the sun is low in the sky during sunrise and sunset the light travels through more atmosphere so more of the blue light is scattered leaving more red light. When Earth blocks the light from the sun during a lunar eclipse the edge of Earth has a glow like a sunrise or a sunset from the scattered light in the atmosphere. This is what gives the shadow on the moon during the total eclipse its reddish tint.
During a lunar eclipse, Earth’s atmosphere scatters sunlight. The blue light from the Sun scatters away, and longer-wavelength red, orange, and yellow light pass through, turning our Moon red. *This image is not to scale. Credit: NASA Goddard Space Flight Center/Scientific Visualization Studio
Top Tips for Viewing
- Don’t just go out once to look. Watch as much of the event from start to finish to see how the moon changes.
- Look at the video showing the phases so you will know what to expect.
- You don’t need any special glasses or protection. It is like looking at a regular full moon.
- You can use binoculars or a telescope to see more details but your eyes are all you need.
* Always wear proper eye protection when viewing a solar eclipse. View details »
Watch the Event Live – Telescope Views & Commentary
Live Broadcast from timeandate.com –
starting at 4:00 am EST (1 am PST)
Live Broadcast from the Lowell Observatory –
starting at 4:00 am – 7:00 am EST (2 am – 5 am MST)
What will you see? What time?
Unlike a solar eclipse, the timing of the lunar eclipse is the same for everyone in the viewing area, just adjusted to your time zone. NOTE: The eclipse occurs on Tuesday morning, November 8, 2022, for most people but for those in time zones to the west of PST, the eclipse is Monday night, November 7, 2022. For example, it starts at 9:02 pm Monday night for Hawaii.
Also, times are given in UTC as a standard time, but most locations living in the UTC time zone will ONLY see the eclipse online, NOT outside.
| Phase | EST November 8 (Tuesday) |
PST November 8 (Tuesday) |
UTC November 8 (Tuesday) |
| Penumbral Eclipse Begins Not much to see yet! The outer edge of the Earth’s shadow is called the penumbra. It is barely noticeable by the naked eye when the Moon passes through it. The light only dims by a couple of %. It’s not a particularly interesting part of a lunar eclipse. |
3:02 am | 12:02 am | 8:02 |
| Partial Eclipse Begins The real action begins when the bright full Moon begins to be covered by Earth’s darker shadow (umbra). The bright full Moon may appear white, but with a fuzzy shadow blocking part of it. |
4:09 am | 1:09 am | 9:09 |
| Total Eclipse Begins Start of the best part! An hour later, entirely within the umbra, the Moon is a ghostly reddish color. Totality lasts for an hour and a half before the Moon begins to emerge from the central shadow. |
5:16 am | 2:16 am | 10:16 |
| Maximum Eclipse The peak of the show! This is the peak of the event, at the halfway point. This is when the reddish color will be the deepest. If you only have time to look at one part, this is what to aim for. |
5:59 am | 2:59 am | 10:59 |
| Total Eclipse Ends Start watching the transition back to a white Moon! The total eclipse ends when the edge of the Moon starts to emerge out of the full shadow (umbra) and into the lighter shadow (penumbra). The reddish color begins to disappear. The bright full Moon may appear white, but with a fuzzy shadow blocking part of it. Now the partial eclipse phase begins again. |
6:41 am | 3:41 am | 11:41 |
| Partial Eclipse Ends The show is over for most sky watchers! The Moon has moved completely out of the Umbra. If viewing with your naked eye, this is a good place to stop watching. The Moon will be moving through the penumbra, but it is difficult to see this, as the light change is only a few %. |
7:49 am | 4:49 am | 12:49 |
| Penumbral Eclipse Ends Not much to see here! The official eclipse is over when the Moon completely leaves the outer edge of the Earth’s shadow. |
8:56 am | 5:56 am | 13:56 |
To find out the eclipses times for your local check out timeanddate.com.
On November 7-8, the Moon enters the Earth’s shadow, creating a total lunar eclipse, the second since May 2021. These animations shows the changing appearance of the Moon as it travels into and out of the Earth’s shadow, along with times at various stages. The penumbra is the part of the Earth’s shadow where the Sun is only partially covered by the Earth. The umbra is where the Sun is completely hidden. The Moon’s appearance isn’t affected much by the penumbra. Throughout the eclipse, the Moon is moving throught the constellation Aries.
Depending on your location on Earth, the direction of the shadow’s movement is different. Use a tool like timeanddate.com to see what you will see at your location.
Throughout the eclipse, the Moon is moving through the constellation Libra.
(VIDEO & MOON IMAGE CREDIT: NASA SVS)
What will the phases of the eclipse look like?
The orientation of the Earth’s shadow will look different, depending on your location. Here’s a simulation of what to expect.
Eastern Standard Time – Maximum Eclipse: 5:59 a.m. Tuesday
Central Standard Time – Maximum Eclipse: 4:59 a.m. Tuesday
Mountain Standard Time – Maximum Eclipse: 3:59 a.m. Tuesday
Pacific Standard Time – Maximum Eclipse: 2:59 a.m. Tuesday
Universal Time (UTC) – Maximum Eclipse: 10:59 Tuesday
Most locations living in the UTC time zone will ONLY see the eclipse online, NOT outside.
What is a lunar eclipse?
Earth’s shadow can be divided into two distinctive parts: the umbra and penumbra.
Earth totally occludes direct solar radiation within the umbra, the central region of the shadow. However, since the Sun’s diameter appears about one-quarter of Earth’s in the lunar sky, the planet only partially blocks direct sunlight within the penumbra, the outer portion of the shadow.
Within the umbra, the central region, the planet totally shields direct sunlight. In contrast, within the penumbra, the outer portion, the sunlight is only partially blocked.
In the diagram, the Sun, Moon, and Earth sizes nor the distances between the bodies are to scale.
CREDITS: NASA, eclipsewise.com, earthsky.org, timeanddate.com, and greatamericaneclipse.com, Ficazo, Eledraws (Eleonore Bem), In the Sky.
Mark your calendars! The next two major eclipses in the Americas are coming soon! There is an annular solar eclipse on October 14, 2023, and a total solar eclipse on April 8, 2024. More to come.
