What You Need To Know About the March 2025 Total Lunar Eclipse

The Moon will pass into Earth’s shadow and appear to turn red on the night of March 13 or early in the morning of March 14, depending on time zone. Here’s what you need to know about the total lunar eclipse.

What is a lunar eclipse?

A lunar eclipse occurs when the Sun, Earth, and Moon align so that the Moon passes into Earth’s shadow. In a total lunar eclipse, the entire Moon falls within the darkest part of Earth’s shadow, called the umbra. When the Moon is within the umbra, it turns red-orange. Lunar eclipses are sometimes called “Blood Moons” because of this phenomenon.

How can I observe the eclipse?

You don’t need any special equipment to observe a lunar eclipse, although binoculars or a telescope will enhance the view. A dark environment away from bright lights makes for the best viewing conditions.

This eclipse will be visible from Earth’s Western Hemisphere.

What can I expect to observe?

Why does the Moon turn red during a lunar eclipse?

The same phenomenon that makes our sky blue and our sunsets red causes the Moon to turn reddish-orange during a lunar eclipse. Sunlight appears white, but it actually contains a rainbow of components—and different colors of light have different physical properties. Blue light scatters relatively easily as it passes through Earth’s atmosphere. Reddish light, on the other hand, travels more directly through the air.

When the Sun is high on a clear day, we see blue light scattered throughout the sky overhead. At sunrise and sunset, when the Sun is near the horizon, incoming sunlight travels a longer, low-angle path through Earth’s atmosphere to observers on the ground. The bluer part of the sunlight scatters away in the distance (where it’s still daytime), and only the yellow-to-red part of the spectrum reaches our eyes.

During a lunar eclipse, the Moon appears red or orange because any sunlight that’s not blocked by our planet is filtered through a thick slice of Earth’s atmosphere on its way to the lunar surface. It’s as if all the world’s sunrises and sunsets are projected onto the Moon.

What else can I observe on the night of the eclipse?

Look to the western sky on the night of the eclipse for a glimpse of planets Jupiter and Mars. The Moon will be in the constellation Leo, under the lion’s hind paw, at the beginning of the eclipse; soon afterward, it will cross into the constellation Virgo. As Earth’s shadow dims the Moon’s glow, constellations may be easier to spot than usual.

Visit our What’s Up guide for monthly skywatching tips, and find lunar observing recommendations for each day of the year in our Daily Moon Guide.

Writers: Caela Barry, Ernie Wright, and Molly Wasser

Explore More

5 min read

NASA CubeSat Finds New Radiation Belts After May 2024 Solar Storm

Article


4 hours ago

5 min read

Planetary Alignments and Planet Parades

Article


2 days ago

4 min read

What’s Up: February 2025 Skywatching Tips from NASA

Article


6 days ago

Keep Exploring

Discover More Topics From NASA

The Moon and Eclipses

There are two types of eclipses: lunar and solar. During a lunar eclipse, Earth’s shadow obscures the Moon. In a…

Solar Wind on the Moon

As you read this, the Sun is blasting charged particles (electrons, protons, and other ions) out into the solar system.…

Earth’s Moon

The Moon makes Earth more livable, sets the rhythm of ocean tides, and keeps a record of our solar system’s…

Skywatching

Powered by WPeMatico

Get The Details…

Robot Gets a Grip

Blue tentacle-like arms attached to an Astrobee free-flying robot grab onto a “capture cube” in this image from Feb. 4, 2025. The experimental grippers demonstrated autonomous detection and capture techniques that may be used to remove space debris and service satellites in low Earth orbit.

The Astrobee system was designed and built at NASA’s Ames Research Center in Silicon Valley for use inside the International Space Station. The system consists of three cube-shaped robots (named Bumble, Honey, and Queen), software, and a docking station used for recharging. The robots use electric fans as a propulsion system that allows them to fly freely through the microgravity environment of the station. Cameras and sensors help them to “see” and navigate their surroundings. The robots also carry a perching arm that allows them to grasp station handrails to conserve energy or to grab and hold items.

Image credit: NASA/Suni Williams

Powered by WPeMatico

Get The Details…
Monika Luabeya

NASA CubeSat Finds New Radiation Belts After May 2024 Solar Storm

Key Points

• The May 2024 solar storm created two new temporary belts of high-energy particles surrounding Earth.
• Such belts have been seen before, but the new ones were particularly long lasting, especially the new proton belt. 
• The findings are particularly important for spacecraft launching into geostationary orbits, which can be damaged as they traverse the dangerous belts.

The largest solar storm in two decades hit Earth in May 2024. For several days, wave after wave of high-energy charged particles from the Sun rocked the planet. Brilliant auroras engulfed the skies, and some GPS communications were temporarily disrupted.

With the help of a serendipitously resurrected small NASA satellite, scientists have discovered that this storm also created two new temporary belts of energetic particles encircling Earth. The findings are important to understanding how future solar storms could impact our technology. 

The new belts formed between two others that permanently surround Earth called the Van Allen Belts. Shaped like concentric rings high above Earth’s equator, these permanent belts are composed of a mix of high-energy electrons and protons that are trapped in place by Earth’s magnetic field. The energetic particles in these belts can damage spacecraft and imperil astronauts who pass through them, so understanding their dynamics is key to safe spaceflight. 

The discovery of the new belts, made possible by NASA’s Colorado Inner Radiation Belt Experiment (CIRBE) satellite and published Feb. 6, 2025, in the Journal of Geophysical Research: Space Physics, is particularly important for protecting spacecraft launching into geostationary orbits, since they travel through the Van Allen Belts several times before reaching their final orbit.

New Belts Amaze Scientists

Temporary belts have been detected in the aftermath of large solar storms before. But while previous belts have been composed mostly of electrons, the innermost of the two new belts also included energetic protons. This unique composition is likely due to the strength and composition of the solar storm.

“When we compared the data from before and after the storm, I said, ‘Wow, this is something really new,’” said the paper’s lead author Xinlin Li, a professor at the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics (LASP) and Department of Aerospace Engineering Sciences at the University of Colorado Boulder. “This is really stunning.”

The new belts also seem to have lasted much longer than previous belts. Whereas previous temporary belts lasted around four weeks, the new belt composed primary of electrons lasted more than three months. The other belt, that also includes protons, has lasted much longer than the electron belt because it is in a more stable region and is less prone to the physical processes that can knock the particles out of orbit. It is likely still there today.

“These are really high-energy electrons and protons that have found their way into Earth’s inner magnetic environment,” said David Sibeck, former mission scientist for NASA’s Van Allen Probes and research scientist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, who was not involved with the new study. “Some might stay in this place for a very long time.”

How long such belts stick around depends on passing solar storms. Large storms can provide the energy to knock particles in these belts out of their orbits and send them spiraling off into space or down to Earth. One such storm at the end of June significantly decreased the size of the new electron belt and another in August nearly erased the remainder of that electron belt, though a small population of high-energy electrons endured.

CubeSat Fortuitously Comes Back to Life to Make the Discovery

The new discovery was made by NASA’s CIRBE satellite, a CubeSat about the size of a shoebox that circled the planet’s magnetic poles in a low Earth orbit from April 2023 to October 2024. CIRBE housed an instrument called the Relativistic Electron Proton Telescope integrated little experiment-2 (REPTile-2) — a miniaturized and upgraded version of an instrument that flew aboard NASA’s Van Allen Probes, which made the first discovery of a temporary electron belt in 2013.

After a year in space, the CubeSat experienced an anomaly and unexpectedly went quiet on April 15, 2024. The scientists were disappointed to miss the solar storm in May but were able to rely on other spacecraft to provide some preliminary data on the electron belt. Luckily, on June 15, the spacecraft sprang back to life and resumed taking measurements. The data provided high-resolution information that couldn’t be gleaned by any other instrument and allowed the scientists to understand the magnitude of the new belts.

“Once we resumed measurements, we were able to see the new electron belt, which wasn’t visible in the data from other spacecraft,” Li said.

Having the CubeSat in orbit to measure the effect of the solar storm has been bittersweet, Li said. While it provided the opportunity to measure the effects of such a large event, the storm also increased atmospheric drag on the CubeSat, which caused its orbit to decrease prematurely. As a result, the CubeSat deorbited in October 2024. However, the spacecraft’s data makes it all worth it.

“We are very proud that our very small CubeSat made such a discovery,” Li said.

CIRBE was designed and built by LASP at the University of Colorado Boulder and was launched through NASA’s CubeSat Launch Initiative (CSLI). The mission is sponsored by NASA’s Heliophysics Flight Opportunities for Research & Technology (H-FORT) program.

By Mara Johnson-Groh
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.

Explore More

5 min read

Straight Shot: Hubble Investigates Galaxy with Nine Rings

Article


2 days ago

2 min read

Hubble Spots a Supernova

Article


6 days ago

2 min read

Hubble Studies the Tarantula Nebula’s Outskirts

Article


2 weeks ago

Keep Exploring

Discover More Topics From NASA

Missions

Humans in Space

Climate Change

Solar System

Powered by WPeMatico

Get The Details…

Hsiao Smith

Deputy Observatory Manager – Goddard Space Flight Center

Growing up in Malaysia and Singapore, Hsiao Smith — now the deputy observatory manager for NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope — never imagined she’d have a career at NASA. But when she moved near NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, things quickly fell into place. A high school counselor noticed her aptitude for math and science and encouraged her to apply for a junior fellowship program at Goddard.

“I never could have imagined that a summer internship would change my life and lead to such a fulfilling career at NASA!” Hsiao says. “Prior to that, I had no idea what an engineer did. Now, I’ve spent over 35 years involved in engineering at Goddard.”

Hsiao participated in a program that allowed her to come back to Goddard during summers and spring and winter breaks, so she continued working while going to college. 

She began her internship working on flight dynamics. Fueled by a desire to work more hands-on with flight hardware, Hsiao transferred to the power branch and started designing high-voltage power supplies for science instruments that would be launched into space. 

Hsiao earned a bachelor degree in electrical engineering from the University of Maryland and then started working at Goddard full time. She continued her studies, later receiving a master’s degree in engineering management.

“Having hands-on experience on flight hardware gave me a better understanding of how to apply what I learned in the classroom to real life,” Hsiao says. “That experience was invaluable, and it gave me the opportunity to discover what I enjoy doing — designing and building flight hardware. And it was incredible to go from college straight into a job working as an engineer at NASA!”

Hsiao soon moved on to designing power systems for spacecraft, starting with XTE, the Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer. It was the first time she had worked on a project all the way from the design concept to launch. 

Building on that experience, Hsiao spent the next 13 years working on the Hubble Space Telescope — first as the power systems manager, then the Cosmic Origins Spectrograph instrument manager, and finally the Hubble Servicing Mission 4 instrument systems manager. In the latter role, Hsiao delivered two new instruments to Hubble and worked with astronauts to conduct repairs on two Hubble instruments in space.

“Working on Hubble opened the door to so many different opportunities,” Hsiao says. “I had the honor of working not only with the dedicated and talented engineers and scientists here at Goddard, but also world-class experts from other NASA centers, universities, contractors throughout the U.S., and international partners. And I had incredible opportunities few others will ever have, like working with astronauts and going on the shuttle before it launched from the Kennedy Space Center!”

Following her time with Hubble, she worked on the Lunar Laser Communications Demonstration project as a project manager. Hsiao worked with MIT/Lincoln Lab to develop and test NASA’s first optical communication technology that used a laser. Then Hsiao became the deputy program manager for JPSS (the Joint Polar Satellite Systems) where she designed the architecture and developed the cost and schedule for future JPSS missions.

She then spent some time as the technical deputy division manager for the Satellite Servicing Projects Division, continuing the legacy of the Hubble servicing missions and advancing the state of the art in robotic servicing. This work demonstrated how robots could be used to refuel spacecraft and service their instruments. 

Now, she serves as a deputy observatory manager for NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope. Hsiao has worked with Goddard’s engineering team to build the Roman spacecraft bus, which consists of avionics, attitude control, communication and propulsion systems, and other subsystems such as the solar arrays, deployable aperture cover, and the outer barrel assembly. She is currently preparing to test Roman’s newly combined spacecraft and payload.

“It’s a privilege to manage and coordinate Roman hardware from the subsystem level to ensure that once they all work individually, they all function together as an observatory,” Hsiao says.

Though she’s served in many roles at NASA, problem-solving has been a constant thread running through Hsiao’s career.

“It’s exciting to come to work every day not knowing what’s in store for me,” she says. “It’s about coming in and resolving issues, making sure the team has the resources they need to get their jobs done.”

Hsiao urges young engineers to take on new opportunities, keep pursuing their dream job, and seek out advice from mentors and people in career fields you’re interested in.

“I’m working in my dream job, and it all goes back to my great mentors and bosses who were willing to give me opportunities beyond my expectations and to guide me toward my interests,” she says. “All the experiences I’ve had throughout this very fulfilling career stemmed from filling out an application as a high school senior. You never know where an opportunity will lead!”

By Ashley Balzer
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center

Powered by WPeMatico

Get The Details…
Ashley Balzer

More Than 400 Lives Saved with NASA’s Search and Rescue Tech in 2024

2 Min Read

More Than 400 Lives Saved with NASA’s Search and Rescue Tech in 2024

Did you know that the same search and rescue technologies developed by NASA for astronaut missions to space help locate and rescue people across the United States and around the world? 

NASA’s collaboration with the international satellite-aided search and rescue effort known as Cospas-Sarsat has enabled the development of multiple emergency location beacons for explorers on land, sea, and air. 

Of the 407 lives saved in 2024 through search and rescue efforts in the United States, NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) reports that 52 rescues were the result of activated personal locator beacons, 314 from emergency position-indicating radio beacons, and 41 from emergency locator transmitters. Since 1982, more than 50,000 lives have been saved across the world. 

Using GPS satellites, these beacons transmit their location to the Cospas-Sarsat network once activated. The beacons then provide the activation coordinates to the network, allowing first responders to rescue lost or distressed explorers.  

The Search and Rescue Office, part of NASA’s SCaN (Space Communications and Navigation) Program, has assisted in search and rescue services since its formation in 1979 Now, the office is building on their long legacy of Earth-based beacon development to support crewed missions to space. 

The beacons also are used for emergency location, if needed, as part of NASA’s crew launches to and from the International Space Station, and will support NASA’s Artemis campaign crew recovery preparations during future missions returning from deep space. Systems being tested, like the ANGEL (Advanced Next-Generation Emergency Locator) beacon, are benefitting life on Earth and missions to the Moon and Mars. Most recently, NASA partnered with the Department of Defense to practice Artemis II recovery procedures – including ANGEL beacon activation – during URT-11 (Underway Recovery Test 11).  

The SCaN program at NASA Headquarters in Washington provides strategic oversight to the Search and Rescue office. NOAA manages the U.S. network region for Cospas-Sarsat, which relies on flight and ground technologies originally developed at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. U.S. region rescue efforts are led by the U.S. Coast Guard, U.S. Air Force, and many other local rescue authorities. 

About the Author

Kendall Murphy

Technical Writer

Kendall Murphy is a technical writer for the Space Communications and Navigation program office. She specializes in internal and external engagement, educating readers about space communications and navigation technology.

Explore More

4 min read

NASA Search and Rescue Team Prepares for Safe Return of Artemis II Crew

When Artemis II NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Hammock Koch, and Canadian Space…

Article


2 years ago

3 min read

NASA Search and Rescue Technology Saves Explorers, Enables Exploration

Article


1 year ago

4 min read

NASA Tests Beacon for Safe Recovery of Astronauts on Artemis Missions

Article


3 years ago

Keep Exploring

Discover Related Topics

Missions

Humans in Space

Climate Change

Solar System

Powered by WPeMatico

Get The Details…
Kendall Murphy