Total lunar eclipse to dazzle early morning sky Tuesday

Sky gazers in Wisconsin and nation wide will see a total lunar eclipse Tuesday morning, March 3, 2026, if mother nature cooperates with some breaks in the clouds.

Often called a “Blood Moon” for its reddish hues the moon takes on once totality occurs, the eclipse will look especially striking due to its proximity with the horizon. The eclipse will start at 3:50 a.m. with the entire moon being covered with Earth’s shadow just after 5 a.m. This places the moon low on the horizon in the western sky.

The moon will appear to have a black shadow move across it’s surface until the entire moon is shaded. At that time, the reddish hues will show. This is due to the distance the moon is from earth. Light from the sun gets scattered into a prism as it passes through earths atmosphere. At this time, the different colors get scattered into space, with the exception of red, which gets bent in such a way that only the red light makes it to the moon.

Totality will last just under one hour and the moon will come out of Earth’s shadow at 6:02 a.m., as the moon sets on the western Horizon.

Forecasts call for mostly cloudy skies overnight tonight, but due to the length of time a lunar eclipse takes, any breaks in the couds shoud reveal at least a glimpse of the eclipse.