Totality of the lunar eclipse will occur at 3:04 a.m. Pacific time on Tuesday.

Astronomy fans won’t need a telescope or binoculars to catch California’s latest celestial event.

Anyone with a clear view of the moon can experience the eclipse that will emerge in the early morning hours of Tuesday. 

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The total lunar eclipse — a phenomenon where the Earth directly intercepts the sun and moon, painting a shadow across the moon — will occur from 12:44 to 6:23 a.m. Pacific time Tuesday. The peak moment, when the Earth’s shadow bathes the entire moon in a shade of red-orange, will begin at 3:04 a.m. and last for about an hour. 

“The lunar eclipse can be seen easily with the unaided eye from any location with a clear view of the night sky,” Gerald McKeegan, an adjunct astronomer for Chabot Space & Science Center in Oakland, wrote in an email to SFGATE.

Inland areas and the mountains are the best locations statewide for viewing the lunar eclipse. Those places could escape the low cloud cover forecast to emerge across much of California after sunset, according to National Weather Service meteorologist Dial Hoang.

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In the Bay Area, Hoang recommended eclipse hunters pursue the higher elevations of Sonoma and Napa counties or go as far inland as Antioch in the East Bay, or anywhere east of the Diablo Range. Statewide, Tahoe, Death Valley and the Central Valley could host a show in clearer night skies.

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Scientists sometimes call lunar eclipses “blood moons” due to their red hue. The color comes from the Earth’s two-part shadow: a faint outer shadow dubbed the “penumbra” and an inner, rusty red layer, the “umbra.” 

“The reddish color of the umbra is caused by refraction of sunlight through the Earth’s atmosphere,” McKeegan wrote, “much like the reddening of the sky we see at sunset.”

Bay Area residents won’t be able to view another total lunar eclipse until 2029, McKeegan said. 

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The Chabot Space & Science Center plans to throw a watch party starting at 1 a.m. on March 3. See Chabot’s website, www.chabotspace.org, for tickets and more information.

If you prefer to watch from home, livestream the event from Griffith Observatory in Los Angeles, which sits in an ideal location for viewing. Check out the homepage to learn more. 

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