The phases of the total lunar eclipse are as follows:
Penumbral eclipse begins: 1:24 AM
Partial eclipse begins: 2:22 AM
Greatest eclipse: 4:12 AM
Partial eclipse ends: 6:02 AM
Penumbral eclipse ends: 7:00 AM
The total lunar eclipse will be visible provided that the sky is clear.The moon is safe to watch and observers need not use any kind of protective filters in the eyes. A pair of binocular will help magnify the view and will make the red coloration of the Moon brighter
Why is the Moon Red During a Total Lunar Eclipse?
During a total lunar eclipse, the Earth blocks the Sun's light from reaching the Moon. Astronauts on the Moon would then see the Earth completely eclipse the Sun. (They would see a bright red ring around the Earth as they watched all the sunrises and sunsets happening simultaneousely around the world!) While the Moon remains completely within Earth's umbral shadow, indirect sunlight still manages to reach and illuminate it. However, this sunlight must first pass deep through the Earth's atmosphere which filters out most of the blue colored light. The remaining light is a deep red or orange in color and is much dimmer than pure white sunlight. Earth's atmosphere also bends or refracts some of this light so that a small fraction of it can reach and illuminate the Moon.
The total phase of a lunar eclipse is so interesting and beautiful precisely because of the filtering and refracting effect of Earth's atmosphere. If the Earth had no atmosphere, then the Moon would be completely black during a total eclipse
