Total lunar eclipse tonight

Well, technically early tomorrow morning.

April 14, 2014; 7:24 AM • by Ross Catrow

Update #1 — April 14, 2014; 7:19 AM

Well, it looks like the weather is not going to cooperate tonight. We’re looking at a 30% chance of rain with almost a 100% cloud cover during the best part of the eclipse. If you’re dead set on trying to catch a glimpse, good luck!

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Original — April 14, 2014

If you’re into staying up late and have a decent view of the horizon, you’ve got a chance to see a total lunar eclipse tonight (well, technically early tomorrow morning). At 3:07 AM Tuesday, the moon will fully pass into the earth’s umbra and will look totally creepy and red. Sure it’s super late/early, but lunar eclipses are decently rare, and this is one of only two total eclipses visible on the East Coast in 2014.

EarthSky has a wonderfully exhaustive post about the event, but here’s the gist:

The eclipse begins at 1:58 AM. The total eclipse starts at 3:07 AM and lasts until 4:25 AM.
The moon will be hanging out in the south-western sky about 30° above the horizon.¹ Depending on your view, you may want to catch the eclipse earlier before the moon sets behind your neighbor’s house.

The next total lunar eclipse occurs on October 8th but may be too close to the horizon for us to see in RVA.

Photo by: Images by John ‘K’