TONIGHT’S ECLIPSE TO FEATURE A BLOOD MOON

A total lunar eclipse will grace the night skies, providing longer than usual thrills for stargazers across North and South America.

The celestial action unfolds tonight, with the moon bathed in the reflected red and orange hues of Earth’s sunsets and sunrises for about 1 1⁄2 hours, one of the longest totalities of the decade. It will be the first socalled blood moon in a year.

Observers in the eastern half of North America and all of Central and South America will have prime seats for the whole show, weather permitting. Partial stages of the eclipse will be visible across Africa, Europe and the Middle East. Left out: Alaska, Asia and Australia.

“This is really an eclipse for the Americas,” said NASA’S Noah Petro, a planetary geologist who specializes in the moon. “It’s going to be a treat.”

All you need, he noted, are “patience and eyeballs.”

In San Diego, viewers may get a glimpse of the eclipse in a spot with a good view of the western horizon. The moon will be just barely over the horizon when the total eclipse begins at 8:29 p.m. local time. The blood red color will be visible until 9:53 p.m., after which it will fade. Of course, if it’s cloudy, San Diego moonwatchers will be out of luck.

A total eclipse occurs when Earth passes directly between the moon and the sun, and casts a shadow on our constant, cosmic companion. The moon will be 225,000 miles away at the peak of the eclipse — around midnight on the U.S. East Coast.

“This is this gradual, slow, wonderful event that as long as it’s clear where you are, you get to see it,” Petro said.

If not, NASA will provide a livestream of the eclipse from various locations; so will the Slooh network of observatories.

There’ll be another lengthy total lunar eclipse in November.