Our moon is about to put on a show: the first total lunar eclipse of the year, and this time it will be a “blood moon.”
A lunar eclipse occurs when the Earth blocks the sun and casts a shadow on the moon. Even if it were to push the big gray, 4.53-billion-year-old orb into darkness, the Moon could appear red instead. According to NASA, some light from the Sun filters through the Earth’s atmosphere and casts orange light on the Moon. Depending on how deep the orange is, some people think it looks almost red.
This event begins on March 3, 2026, which means it’s only hours away. It will be available in North America, Central America, Asia and Australia. In the US, we should start seeing the lunar eclipse starting around 3 ET. It can be finished at 6 a.m. ET. Aissdia and Australia will see it in the early evening of the 3rd.
Depending on the weather, you may be able to see the lunar eclipse with the naked eye. However, cloud cover (which is expected in the northeastern US) means you may not be able to see the Blood Moon.
If so, there’s at least one YouTube live stream you can bookmark and use to watch when the lunar event begins.
Look at
See it, catch it
If you plan to photograph the Blood Moon with your best smartphone, try using the top optical zoom on your phone, e.g. 8x on the iPhone 17 Pro Max and 10x on the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra.
We don’t recommend using any zoom that goes beyond the phone’s optical capabilities, as image processing can introduce AI artifacts that, while the image looks good, won’t necessarily be images of this lunar eclipse. Instead, they will be the AI’s interpretation of the event.
If you can take a picture with earthly objects in the foreground, such as people, buildings, trees and landmarks, you give the picture more context. Also, if you have a digital SLR with a long lens, use it. The photo above was taken with a Sony Alpha A6000 with a 200MM lens.
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