Q&AZ: Was the March blood moon lunar eclipse visible in Arizona?

From Thursday night into early Friday morning, the first total lunar eclipse since 2022 coincided with the full blood moon.

That gets its name from how light bends around the eclipse and filters down through the atmosphere, making the moon look reddish.

The recent celestial event was visible in the United States, but what about in Arizona?

Alex Young, a lead meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Phoenix, said that if not for some unfortunately timed local weather, it would’ve been visible to more Arizonans.

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Photos: Across the U.S., sky gazers marvel at the blood moon lunar eclipse

Juliana Kim

As the moon moved through the shadow of the Earth, it was also being illuminated by light from the sun — causing the moon to appear as if dipped in a deep red hue in a stunning celestial sight.

“Obviously we had some weather move through the area,” said Young. “And it actually cleared out for the most part, at least around the Valley, in order to view the total lunar eclipse, which peaked around 11:30.”

Last night’s lunar eclipse and the moon’s temporary reddish hue, he said, should have been visible to just about anyone looking up.

“The scattering of the visible light is what causes it to turn red,” Young said, “and so red on the visible spectrum is a longer wave that's refracted. So that’s kind of why we see the red color.”

Young said the rainy conditions may continue.

“We’re cloudy right now and it looks like that’s gonna persist through the day today,” said Young. “And we actually have some rain chances later in the afternoon and in the overnight hours.”

A total lunar eclipse like last night’s, he said, occurs every few years throughout the world.

Even though viewing conditions weren’t ideal this time, he expressed hope that people still take time to appreciate the unique astronomical event and, if conditions permit, added that no special equipment will be needed to view the next one.