DES MOINES, Iowa – A sight that won’t be visible for about a year will be in Iowa skies tonight — a lunar eclipse.

The total lunar eclipse will be visible shortly after midnight. The moon will slowly become less visible, as if bites are being taken out of it. By around 1:30 AM, the total eclipse begins, and the moon will turn dark and reddish. The total eclipse will last about an hour, then return to a partial eclipse state. The entire eclipse ends shortly before 4:00 AM Friday.

So how and why does an eclipse happen? The phenomenon occurs when the earth, moon, and sun are all in the same plane. When this happens, the Earth moves between the sun and moon for a time, blocking out most of the light from the sun from hitting the moon. Some of the sun’s light does get through, however, causing the reddish color of the moon. This is because the earth’s atmosphere scatters the blue waves of light, which are shorter than red light waves.

Lunar eclipses are visible across an entire half of the globe at a time because the Earth is blocking out the moon. This is in contrast to a solar eclipse, which takes place when the moon moves between the sun and the Earth. The moon is much smaller than the earth and sun, so a smaller area sees a solar eclipse when the moon blocks out the sun’s light. Despite this discrepancy, solar and lunar eclipses happen about as often as one another, but fewer people get the opportunity to see a solar eclipse because of the smaller area affected.

Viewing conditions won’t be exactly ideal for this event in central Iowa. Most of the eastern United States, parts of the Plains (such as Kansas, Oklahoma, and western Texas), and sections of Nevada, Arizona, and Idaho will have more optimal conditions with clear skies.

Unfortunately, clouds could be an issue for central Iowa eclipse viewers. Cloud cover builds in through the night. There will be some patches of clearing and conditions may be a bit better in southwestern Iowa.

If clouds prevent viewing of this total lunar eclipse, we won’t have to wait too long to see another one — the next total lunar eclipse takes place on March 3, 2026.