From Thursday night into Friday morning, Earth’s shadow will swallow the moon, transforming the usually pearly orb into a striking red sphere.

It’s the first total lunar eclipse in more than two years. Also known as a blood moon, the event will be most visible across the Americas, western parts of Africa and Europe, New Zealand and some of Russia.

“It’s a lovely sight to see in the night sky,” said Amanda Bosh, the executive director of the Lowell Observatory in Arizona, who has seen more than 20 lunar eclipses in her lifetime.

“I love seeing the solar system, the universe, at work,” she added.

There are several phases of a total lunar eclipse. According to the United States Naval Observatory, the event will occur over about six hours across Thursday and Friday.

The moon will begin to creep into Earth’s penumbra at around 11:56 p.m. Eastern time on Thursday. At 1:09 a.m. on Friday, the moon will enter the umbra, during which a growing portion of its surface will be obscured from view. According to Dr. Bosh, the moon will appear more red as the partial phase elapses.

Totality, when the entirety of the moon is engulfed in the darkest part of Earth’s shadow, occurs at 2:25 a.m. and lasts for just over an hour.

Sources: NOAA/National Blend of Models (cloud cover); MapLibre (map rendering); Natural Earth (roads, labels and terrain); Protomaps (map tiles)

By William B. Davis, Joel Eastwood and Joey K. Lee

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