Plan Ahead: Total Lunar Eclipse March 3

Soon after sunset on Saturday evening, March 3, skywatchers in eastern North America can watch the rising full Moon undergoing its first total eclipse in nearly 2-½ years.

In Europe and Africa the eclipse takes place late at night high in a dark sky.

For North Americans, the farther east you are the better. The eclipse will already be in progress when the Sun sets and the Moon rises, two events that happen almost simultaneously on a lunar eclipse night.

In New England and the Canadian Maritime Provinces the Moon rises before total eclipse begins; be on the watch for a thinning sliver of the Moon’s edge coming up just above the eastern horizon. Across much of the eastern United States, the Moon rises during totality. In this region, depending on just how clear your eastern sky is on eclipse evening, you might have to wait a half-hur or more after the Moon rises, since the twilight sky will still be quite bright and the full Moon will be shining 1/10,000 to 1/100,000 as bright as it normally would; you’ll be hunting for a dim ball.