If you’ve been feeling a strong urge to howl lately, there’s a reason why: A full “blood moon” is coming Oct. 8. Just check out the NASA video above.
All werewolf jokes aside, the total lunar eclipse will be the second — and final — “blood moon” of the year. It will be visible in the United States and Canada early Wednesday morning, with better viewing for those in the western part of the continent, as indicated in the map below.
The full eclipse will start at 6:25 a.m. EDT and last until 7:24 a.m, according to NASA.
Full lunar eclipses are often called “blood moons” because of the reddish tint they adopt as sunsets and sunrises seen from Earth reflect onto the surface of the moon.
Because this eclipse will happen two days after a lunar perigee, which is the point when the moon is nearest to Earth, NASA says the moon will appear 5.3 percent larger than the previous “blood moon,” which occurred on April 15.
This eclipse marks the second in a series of four lunar eclipses in a row, known as a “tetrad.” We’ll experience just eight tetrads this century, according to the Washington Post, and we won’t experience the next tetrad until around 2032 or 2033.
