Viewing Guide: Watch Blood Moon During Total Lunar Eclipse on Wednesday
The second in a rare set of four lunar eclipses will be visible across most of North America.
There's a "blood moon" on the rise. This week the moon will disappear for the second time in 2014, in a total eclipse early Wednesday morning.
Lunar eclipses happen when the sun, moon, and Earth are aligned just right for Earth's shadow to cover the moon—and turn it a ruddy hue.
"It's rare and an awesome spectacle to look at," says Ben Burress, an astronomer at the Chabot Space & Science Center in Oakland, California.
"Cultures in the past often feared eclipses, thinking that something bad was happening," he says. "But now with those fears removed by scientific understanding of what's going on, that leaves only enjoyment." (Related: "Solar Eclipse Myths From Around the World.")
A lunar eclipse happens when the
