The longest lunar eclipse of the century will be visible in all 50 states early Friday morning.

 

NASA forecasts that the upcoming Beaver Moon eclipse will last for over 3 and a half hours. For Kansans, the eclipse should become visible at around 1:18 AM, should peak at around 3:00 AM, and finally conclude at about 4:47 AM.

 

Lunar eclipses occur when the Earth moves in between the sun and moon, blocking most of the former's light and casting a shadow on the latter. Earth's atmosphere filters out blue wavelengths of light, but still allows red and orange wavelengths to pass through. This is what results in the signature, rusty-red color the moon takes on during this event.

 

Previously, the longest eclipse of the 21st century took place in 2018 and was visible for 1 hour and 43 minutes. Unlike solar eclipses, lunar eclipses are completely safe to the human eye. They also require no special equipment to view.

 

The next lunar eclipse will come, as predicted by NASA, in May 2022.