Oregon Public Broadcasting

Here's a reason to get up really early Tuesday morning. There's going to be a total eclipse of the moon. That's when the moon passes through the earth's shadow. Correspondent Austin Jenkins reports.

The sky show will begin just before 3 a.m. Pacific Daylight Time and last about an hour and a half.

During this time the moon should turn orange -- kind of like a pumpkin. Or maybe even blood red.

A total lunar eclipse only occurs when the moon is full. Kind of makes you think of that Bonny Tyler song from the 80s.

Ana Larson: “Oh totally, it's one of my favorite songs.”

Ana Larson is an Astronomy lecturer at the University of Washington.

Austin Jenkins: “So you could get up, turn on a little Bonny Tyler and get your binocs out.”

Ana Larson: “Ya, get a lawn chair. I would probably get up about 2:30 and then you could be back into bed about 5 o'clock and you'd catch the best part of it.”

This is the second total eclipse of the moon this year. The last one was in March.

This time around people in the West are especially well positioned to see it -- and the weather is expected to cooperate.

NASA Lunar Eclipse Page