Blood Moon Lunar Eclipse Visible Over Southern Colorado Early Tuesday Morning

Southern Colorado skywatchers who set their alarms early on March 3 were rewarded with one of astronomy's most striking spectacles: a total lunar eclipse that bathed the moon in a deep reddish hue during the predawn hours.

The phenomenon, commonly called a blood moon, occurs when Earth passes directly between the sun and the moon, casting its shadow fully across the lunar surface. Rather than going dark, the moon glows in shades of orange and red as sunlight bends through Earth's atmosphere and scatters onto the moon's face. The effect was visible across North America, with Las Animas County sitting squarely in the viewing zone.

KOAA's Weather Science team published a guide ahead of the event to help southern Colorado residents time their viewing, providing peak timing information and observing tips for the region.

Total lunar eclipses require no special equipment to observe safely, unlike solar eclipses, making them accessible to anyone willing to step outside into the March predawn chill. Trinidad, Walsenburg, and the open high desert stretches of Las Animas County, with their limited light pollution compared to Front Range cities, offered particularly favorable conditions for watching the moon's color shift through totality.

The blood moon of March 3 was a relatively rare event. Total lunar eclipses visible from a specific region occur only a handful of times per decade, making Tuesday morning's display a notable one for southern Colorado skywatchers who caught it.