'Blood moon' total lunar eclipse flushes the moon red across the Western Hemisphere
A total "blood moon" total lunar eclipse flushed the moon red Thursday night into Friday morning across the Western Hemisphere.
The best views were from North America and South America. Parts of Africa and Europe were also expected to catch a glimpse.
According to Dr. Angela Speck, a professor of astrophysics and department chair for physics and astronomy at The University of Texas at San Antonio, said no special equipment was necessary to view it.
What is a total lunar eclipse?
There are three types of lunar eclipses a penumbral, partial, and total lunar eclipse.
Penumbral lunar eclipses are not very noticeable and occur when the moon passes through the Earth's penumbra, or the "faint outer part of its shadow," according to NASA.
With partial lunar eclipses, part of the moon might look like it's missing, according to Speck.
"You've got a nice, crescent C-shape," said Speck. "This looks more like something took a bite out of [the moon]."
When it comes to a total lunar eclipse, the visibility of the moon shifts even more.
As the Moon passes opposite the Sun it will move through the shadow of Earth creating a total eclipse of the Moon, according to NASA.
When and where is the March 2025 total lunar eclipse?
According to NASA, the totality of the lunar eclipse began around 2:26 a.m. ET and ended around 3:31 a.m. ET. The overall eclipse happened between 11:57 p.m. ET until 6 a.m. ET, according to NASA.
Why does this lunar eclipse involve a "blood moon"?
Speck likens the "blood moon" appearance to that of the rock band Pink Floyd's famous 1973 "Dark Side of the Moon" album cover.
"You've got this light. It hits the prism and out the other side, comes the rainbow. And so that light is bent by going through the glass. The same thing happens with the light going through the Earth's atmosphere," Speck said. "As the light comes past the Earth, it's going through the atmosphere at those edges but it's getting bent, just like it does on that album cover. It's getting bent and the red light hits the moon."
Another way to think of the "blood moon," according to Speck, is to think of all the red light from sunrises and sunsets becoming visible at the same time.
"One of the nicest ways I've heard of it expressed that I think is really cool, is that because of where it's happening the sunlight is going through the edge of the atmosphere on either side of the Earth, that's where sunrise and sunset are happening," said Speck. "You are seeing the light of every sunrise and every sunset on the planet reflected off the moon."
How you can see the total lunar eclipse
Anyone in the U.S. could view the total lunar eclipse, which lasted about six hours, according to Speck.
"Most people will watch the beginning because you're watching the moon start to disappear and it's still whitish where you can still see it, and then when it's completely eclipsed and your eyes adjust and you see the red," said Speck. "Then it's going to stay red for an hour or so and then you're going to start to see the bites again and you'll start to see the moon come back."
Speck said the total lunar eclipse could be viewed in areas with street lights but did recommend going to a darker spot if you wanted to see the moon's red appearance more fully.
When will the next total lunar eclipse occur?
Lunar eclipses typically occur about twice a year or every six months but the next lunar eclipse will be viewable from Asia, according to Speck.
Another lunar eclipse will be visible in the U.S. in March 2026 but only visible from part of the U.S.
"There's one in 2028 but that'll be only about the eastern half of the country so it's the last one for awhile that the whole country gets to see," said Speck. "The next one that pretty much the whole U.S. gets to see is October 2032."
"If you're in the U.S. and you don't travel abroad to see these things, then this is your last chance for awhile, so I would definitely take advantage of it," Speck added.
History of eclipses
Civilizations have viewed and interpreted lunar eclipses for thousands of years. Ancient people knew more about the celestial bodies than we give them credit for, said historian Zoe Ortiz.
"They were looking at the night sky and they had a much brighter vision than we do today," said Ortiz with the University of North Texas.
Aristotle noticed that the shadow the Earth cast on the moon during a lunar eclipse was always curved, observations proving that the Earth is round.
And a civilization in ancient Mesopotamia saw the blood red moon as a bad omen for the king. The people installed a substitute king on the throne around the time of the eclipse to protect their ruler from any bad will.
"If there's ever a movie plot," said Ortiz, "that's the one."
ABC News and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
