How To See The Super Blood Moon Eclipse In Los Angeles

LOS ANGELES, CA — The early hours of Wednesday morning will mark an uncommon celestial trifecta: a supermoon, a blood moon and a total lunar eclipse.

And you should be able to see it in Los Angeles if you get up super early to stargaze. The eclipse will begin at about 1:45 a.m. with the maximum eclipse occurring at 4:19 a.m. This supermoon will appear to be bigger and brighter than the two preceding it this year. It will appear a reddish blood color as the earth casts its shadow across the moon, earning it the eerie super blood moon moniker.

The Griffith Observatory remains closed to the public due to the COVID- 19 pandemic and thus will be unable to host its normal in-person eclipse viewing. But the observatory will host a live feed of the entire eclipse on its website and on YouTube from 1:45 to 6 a.m.

Here are need-to-know lunar eclipse details in Los Angeles County Wednesday morning:

• Total duration: 4 hours, 6 minutes
• Penumbral begins: 1:47 a.m. Wednesday
• Partial begins: 2:44 a.m. Wednesday
• Full begins: 4:11 a.m. Wednesday
• Maximum: 4:18 a.m. Wednesday
• Full ends: 4:25 a.m. Wednesday
• Moonset: 5:52 a.m. Wednesday

A total lunar eclipse occurs when the moon passes completely into the shadow cast by the Earth. The round disk of the full moon slowly moves into the dark shadow, and the bright moon grows dim. The moon does not, however, become completely dark.

Instead, it glows with a copper or red hue, a result of sunlight being filtered and bent through the Earth's atmosphere -- much like a sunset.

Unlike solar eclipses, lunar eclipses are safe to look at, and visible with the naked eye without the need for any special equipment.

If you don't make it out of bed to catch the show, you'll have another chance next year. Another lunar eclipse visible from Los Angeles is expected on May 15-16, 2022.

City News Service and Patch Staffer Paige Austin contributed to this report.