A “blood moon” solar eclipse will be celebrated with a sculpture by American artist Jonathan Borofsky called “Woman … (+)
When will the next total lunar eclipse with a “blood moon” occur? After the partial lunar eclipse visible across the United States this week, you may be wondering what happened to the “blood moon” sightings that were common just a few years ago.
Finally, the sight of the Earth’s shadow moving across the Moon before completely engulfing it, giving the lunar surface an orange-reddish color, is one of nature’s most beautiful sights.
The good news is that we’re about to have three of them, starting with the next lunar eclipse. That’s because total lunar eclipses usually occur in triads or groups of three within a lunar year (354 days), accompanied by solar eclipses a few weeks before and/or after.
This is the schedule for the next triad of total lunar eclipses:
- March 14, 2025: total lunar eclipse: a 65-minute “blood moon” visible from North America.
- March 29, 2025: partial solar eclipse visible in the northeastern United States
- September 7, 2025: total lunar eclipse: an 82-minute “blood moon” that is not visible from North America.
- September 21, 2025: partial solar eclipse: visible in New Zealand, the Pacific and Antarctica.
- February 17, 2026: annular solar eclipse: visible in Antarctica.
- March 3, 2026: total lunar eclipse: a 58-minute “blood moon” visible from North America.
The blood-red full moon passes behind the Empire State Building during a total lunar eclipse … (+)
What causes solar and lunar eclipses?
The reason solar and lunar eclipses don’t occur every month is because the moon’s orbit around the Earth is tilted by about 5 degrees compared to the Earth’s orbit around the sun. This means that most of the time a new moon is above or below the sun and a full moon is above or below the earth’s shadow, but no eclipses occur.
But they must happen. The Moon’s orbit around the Earth is roughly around the equator, so it crosses the Sun’s apparent path through the sky – the ecliptic – twice a month at specific points called nodes. When the Moon reaches one of these nodes during a full Moon or new Moon phase, it causes a lunar or solar eclipse, respectively. The alignment is such that another eclipse of the same kind is inevitable two weeks later when the Moon reaches the other node.
I wish you clear skies and big eyes.
