Get ready for Blood Moon tonight: The Moon will turn an eerie dark red for 82 minutes. Here's why

The Moon will turn an eerie blood red on the night of September 7 and 8 for 82 minutes, creating a brilliant celestial spectacle. The event occurs when Earth passes directly between the Sun and the full Moon. This will be the year's second and final total lunar eclipse, with the full event lasting for more than five hours.

The totality phase of the eclipse will last for 82 minutes. During this time, Earth will cast its shadow on the Moon, plunging the lunar body's entire near side into darkness, which will still have red hues. This is why the moon is known as a "blood moon." The red colour is caused by a phenomenon called Rayleigh scattering, which bends the light through Earth's atmosphere.

According to NASA, the red colour is not uniform and is affected by dust, clouds, or volcanic ash in Earth's atmosphere. These conditions can intensify the scattering effect, giving it a much deeper colour.

Unfortunately, Americans won't be privy to the grand celestial event on September 7 and 8. The Blood Moon will skip the United States as the eclipse begins at 11:28 am EDT. Since the full moon will already set over North and South America by this time, the Blood Moon won't be visible in the US.

The last total lunar eclipse of 2025 can be seen by 77 per cent of the global population. It will be visible in Asia, Australia, Africa, and Europe. However, the best scenes will happen in Asia and Western Australia, according to Time and Date. People in Europe and Africa will only be able to see a part of the totality.

Total lunar eclipses always occur during the full moon. The phenomenon occurs when the moon, Earth and the sun are in a line. At this time, the Moon's near side fully passes into the Earth's umbral shadow, that is, the innermost and darkest part of its shadow.