ENTERTAINMENT

When you can see Sunday night’s lunar eclipse in Alabama

Hadley Hitson
Montgomery Advertiser

The Earth, sun and moon will all align tonight in the first lunar eclipse since last May. 

This means that any sunlight hitting the moon will first be filtered through Earth’s atmosphere, resulting in a deep orange "blood moon." It will be visible from Alabama, weather permitting. 

According to NASA, the eclipse will begin at 8:32 p.m. in Alabama. By 10:29 p.m., the moon will turn a coppery-red color, and that effect will last almost two hours. The eclipse will end at 1:50 a.m. Monday. 

While the entire event will take place over the course of five hours and 19 minutes, prime viewing time will be at 11:11 p.m. in Alabama. This is when the moon will be its deepest red and in the darkest shadow. 

Tonight's total lunar eclipse will begin around 8:30 p.m. and end around 1:50 a.m. on Monday.

The weather will be partly cloudy for much of Alabama tonight, so clouds could potentially obstruct your view. In that case — or if you just don’t feel like getting out of bed — NASA will livestream the eclipse from several different locations, including Huntsville’s Marshall Space Flight Center. 

NASA will host its livestream with experts commenting on each step of the process from 10 p.m. to 11 p.m.. 

Beyond Alabama, the eclipse will be visible for a large portion of the world, including people in North and South America, much of Europe and Africa and parts of the Pacific.

No special equipment is needed to watch the eclipse, though binoculars or telescopes could enhance your view. Just step outside or turn on your computer to watch the moon enter earth’s shadow. 

Hadley Hitson covers the rural South for the Montgomery Advertiser and Report for America. She can be reached at hhitson@gannett.com.