ST. LOUIS – Stargazers are in for a treat tonight. Coming almost a year after the region was treated to a total solar eclipse, we now will get to experience the nighttime equivalent. 

This will be the first since November of 2022. The total lunar eclipse will take place early Friday morning, but it will begin on tonight. 

A lunar eclipse occurs when the Sun, Earth and Moon align to where the Moon passes through Earth’s shadow.

The penumbral eclipse will begin at 10:57 p.m. Thursday night when the moon enters Earth’s partial shadow. 

The penumbra is where the sun is only partially blocked by the Earth. During this phase, the dimming of the moon will begin, but it’ll be a subtle effect.

The partial eclipse will begin at 12:09 a.m. as the moon enters the darkest part of the Earth’s shadow, called the umbra, which is where the sun is completely hidden.

Scientists at NASA say that during this phase, to the naked eye, it’ll look like a bite is being taken out of the lunar disk. The part of the Moon inside the umbra will appear very dark.

When the last of the moon enters the umbra, the total eclipse begins. This will be at 1:58 a.m.

During the total eclipse, NASA scientists say the moon will appear as a red-orange color. Due to this phenomenon, lunar eclipses are usually nicknamed “Blood Moons.”

Binoculars will help with viewing and if you want to take a photo, use a camera on a tripod with exposures of at least several seconds.

The maximum eclipse will happen at 1:58 a.m. with the total eclipse ending at 2:31 a.m.

At 3:47 a.m. the partial eclipse ends and the penumbral eclipse ends at 5 a.m. Friday morning.

Following Thursday night’s eclipse, the next total lunar eclipse will take place on March 3, 2026.

Viewing the eclipse will depend on sky conditions but with the total eclipse lasting over an hour, even scattered clouds should lead to decent viewing.

The current St. Louis forecast tonight calls for some clouds and mild viewing temperatures in the 60s.