Total lunar eclipse to occur early Wednesday morning
CHICAGO (WLS) -- Chicagoans will have a terrific opportunity to view the total lunar eclipse that will occur in the very early hours of Wednesday morning. A lunar eclipse takes place when the moon passes through the earth's shadow, which can only occur during a full moon.
The partial phase will begin at approximately 4:15 a.m., according to ABC 7 News meteorologist Mike Caplan, when the moon first touches the earth's shadow, called the umbra. The moon will move deeper into the shadow over a period of 1 hour and 10 minutes, and should enter total eclipse at 5:25 a.m. Caplan says totality will last until 6:24 a.m., and will set in Chicago while still in a partial eclipse.
WATCH: A huge moon hangs low over Chicago before lunar eclipse
"The moon will be very low in the western sky during this eclipse," says Caplan. "Eclipses happen in cycles and this is the second of what's called a lunar eclipse tetrad, a series of four. The next ones are April 4, 2015, then a rare Harvest Moon total eclipse on September 28, 2014."
This eclipse is expected to feature a "blood moon," which happens when the moon turns a coppery color due to sunlight making it through Earth's atmosphere and shining on the moon's surface.
