Total lunar eclipse will turn the moon red on Tuesday

Set your morning alarm a bit earlier Tuesday, and you might catch a total lunar eclipse.

The moon will appear to be crimson red in the early hours of March 3 as it slips into Earth’s shadow during a total lunar eclipse.

A lunar eclipse occurs when Earth is directly between the sun and the moon, preventing most of the sun’s light from reaching the lunar surface. The light that reaches the moon is filtered through Earth’s atmosphere, according to NASA, as “if all of the world’s sunrises and sunsets are projected onto the Moon.”

The total eclipse, which is often referred to as a blood moon, will be visible across the United States.

The eclipse will begin around 4:50 a.m., when the moon moves into Earth’s umbra, the darkest part of the shadow, according to NASA. Totality begins around 6:04 a.m., when Earth will be casting a shadow onto the entire moon, and ends at 7:03 a.m.

You don’t need special equipment to watch the lunar eclipse, though binoculars and telescopes can enhance your view. The best places to watch the eclipse, as with most celestial events, are dark areas away from bright lights.

But the weather might hurt visibility, said Luis Rosa, a meteorologist for the National Weather Service’s Baltimore/Washington office. The forecast for Tuesday morning is a mix of freezing rain and snow.