The sun and the moon will put on another celestial display in the skies above eastern North Carolina early Friday morning.
Dr. Patrick Treuthardt is the Assistant Head of the Astronomy & Astrophysics Research Lab at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences, and he said a total lunar eclipse will occur beginning at about 2:30 a.m.
“You don't have to worry about like wearing any safety equipment or you don't really even need a telescope, you can just go out early in the morning and just look at the moon.”
Previous eclipse coverage: Countdown to the April (solar) eclipse
They’re sometimes called a “blood moon” because the moon appears to have a red glow during the eclipse.
"Some of the sunlight is passing through the Earth's atmosphere, creating all these sunsets and sunrises, and all that reddish light is being cast onto the moon,” he explained.
Unlike a solar eclipse, which is over within minutes, Treuthardt said the lunar version will last about an hour.
“So, you do have some time to get out there and actually see the eclipse, whereas solar eclipses only last for a few minutes.” He added it’s, "Like celestial clockwork in motion here.”
