How to see tomorrow’s ‘Blood Moon’ total lunar eclipse and where to watch online

By Iain Todd

Published: Monday, 07 November 2022 at 12:00 am

The ‘Blood Moon eclipse’, the ‘Election Day eclipse’: there have been a few names given to describe tomorrow’s celestial event.

All you really need to know, however, is that there is a total lunar eclipse occurring in the early hours of 8 November 2022, and during the event observers will be able to see the Moon’s surface turn dim and rusty red.

The lunar eclipse will be visible in the USA, Canada, South America, Australia and much of Asia.

Below we’ll look at the basic facts and timings, but for the full picture and the science behind what we’re seeing, read our complete guide to the 8 November total lunar eclipse.

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Lunar Eclipse on 28 September 2015, by Mark Griffith, Swindon, Wiltshire, UK. Equipment: Skywatcher NEQ6 pro mount, Equinox 80mm refractor, Atik 320e colour camera.

Unlike a solar eclipse, there’s no danger associated with observing a total lunar eclipse and it can be safely seen with the naked eye.

There’s also no need to use binoculars, a telescope or any specialist equipment, but if you do have even a modest pair of binoculars or a small refractor to hand, it will certainly enhance the viewing experience.

And it is also possible to photograph a lunar eclipse with a DSLR camera or a smartphone.

8 November lunar eclipse timings

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A sequence shot of the 10 December 2011 lunar eclipse, by Tim Jukes, Tsukuba, Japan. Equipment: Nikon D7000, Sigma 100-300mm f4 + 1.4x Teleconverter.

At 08:20 UTC (03:02 EDT), the first stage of the eclipse will begin, but you won’t see anything particularly noticeable until the partial stage, which occurs at 09:09 UTC (04:09 EDT).

At this point, it will appear as though a ‘bite’ is being taken out of the Moon.

You can see an animation showing the stages of the 8 November total lunar eclipse via this NASA video: