Categories: Lifestyle

A total lunar eclipse will soon be visible across Canada & here’s what to know

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If you’re a fan of stargazing and aurora-watching, there’s an exciting celestial event to add to your calendar in the coming weeks. The moon will soon pass through Earth’s shadow, creating a spectacular total lunar eclipse that will be viewable across Canada.

According to astronomer Rosanna Tilbrook at Vancouver’s H.R. MacMillan Space Centre, solar and lunar eclipses typically come in pairs due to the earth-moon-sun system aligning for a specific period of time. While there is an upcoming solar eclipse on March 29, 2025, it won’t be viewable for Canadians.

However, the upcoming total lunar eclipse on Thursday, March 13, 2025, will be “fully visible from everywhere in Canada.” That means coast to coast, those who are lucky enough to look up to clear skies will see a small fraction of the moon enter the earth’s dark umbral shadow.

“Lunar eclipses aren’t quite as dramatic as solar eclipses, but they’re exciting to see all the same,” shares Dr. Tilbrook.

What is a lunar eclipse?

According to In-The-Sky.org, lunar eclipses occur when the earth passes between the moon and sun, obscuring the sun’s light and casting a shadow onto the moon’s surface. EarthSky adds that this can make the moon turn a “deep shade of red,” a phenomenon known as a Blood Moon.

This is because colours with longer wavelengths, like red and orange, scatter less easily than those with shorter wavelengths like blues and violets. According to NASA, this phenomenon makes the full moon appear orangeish or reddish during a lunar eclipse, which increases with the amount of dust or clouds in the Earth’s atmosphere.

“On March 13-14, 2025, a total lunar eclipse of the Full Worm Moon will sweep across parts of Antarctica, the western half of Africa, western Europe, the Atlantic Ocean, the Americas, the Pacific Ocean, eastern Australia, northern Japan and eastern Russia,” reads the EarthSky forecast.

When will the lunar eclipse start?

Between 01:09 and 04:47 EDT on Thursday, March 13, 2025, the moon will pass through Earth’s shadow. In-The-Sky.org points out that the resulting eclipse will be visible from any location where the moon is above the horizon.

At 01:10 EDT, the edge of the moon’s disk will enter the earth’s umbra (darkest shadow), in the region of space where an observer on the moon’s surface would see our planet completely obscuring the sun’s disk.

The moon will be partially eclipsed between 01:10 and 04:48 EDT, and totally eclipsed from 02:26 until 03:31 EDT.

What does this look like to the naked eye? The moon’s brightness will gradually dim at the start of the partial eclipse, though the moon will remain slightly illuminated. As an increasing fraction of the moon creeps into the earth’s umbra, we’ll see “our planet’s circular shadow sweep across the face of the moon.”

Eventually, the moon will pass entirely within the earth’s umbra at 02:26, and the total eclipse will begin.

Photo via In-The-Sky.org

How to view the lunar eclipse

EarthSky and In-The-Sky.org note that, unlike solar eclipses, lunar eclipses are completely safe to view with the naked eye. Although if you want a closer look at the celestial action, your view can be enhanced by using a binocular or telescope – but neither is necessary!

“It’s typical to see two sets of eclipse pairs in a year, because the plane of the Moon’s orbit crosses the plane of Earth’s orbit twice a year, six months apart” explains Dr. Tilbrook. “There’s another lunar and solar eclipse pair in September 2025, but neither will be visible from Canada.”

So the night of Thursday, March 13, 2025 (and early morning of March 14), marks an important time for astronomy enthusiasts and moon lovers!