A total lunar eclipse will create a dramatic "blood moon" early in the morning of April 15, say astronomers explaining how best to catch sight of the celestial phenomenon.
At the height of the eclipse around 3 a.m. EDT, the moon will glow red and orange for about an hour, the source of the "blood moon" tag, they say.
Although partial lunar eclipses are rather common, this will be the first total example visible across North America in more than three years.
Sky watchers in various cities can visit a website maintained by the U.S. Naval Observatory to get exact times for the best viewing of the eclipse from their location.
Although the eclipse will be visible to the naked eye, a good pair of binoculars can give a dramatic view of the reddened moon, astronomers say.
A total eclipse, with its blood-red hue, provides a much more dramatic result than more common partial eclipses, which just cast a partial dark but uncolored shadow on the moon.
In a total eclipse, the color is the result of the moon reflecting the sunrises and sunsets that are occurring around the Earth as the sun shines through out planet's atmosphere.
This eclipse, in which the Earth will completely block the sun from the moon's perspective for an hour and 18 minutes, will be visible across almost all the continental United States, the majority of Canada and Central America, and in parts of South America.
The event will be just the first of four upcoming total eclipses, a phenomenon called a tetrad, experts say, with others occurring Oct. 8 of this year and April 4, 2015, and Sept. 28, 2015.
"The most unique thing about the 2014-2015 tetrad is that all of them are visible for all or parts of the USA," NASA eclipse expert Fred Espenak said in a statement.
Tetrads of eclipses aren't unusual, he says; there will be nine of them during this century.
NASA says a live web chat will go online beginning 1 a.m. ETD April 15 to field questions from the public about the eclipse.
The Marshall Space Flight Center will also provide a live stream of the event, the space agency says.
