A total lunar eclipse is rising on Thursday night

Tonight, a total lunar eclipse will rise over Nashville, making our nearest natural satellite glow red for the first time in nearly three years.

Checking out a total lunar eclipse isn’t difficult. You don’t need any special equipment, just a relatively clear sky and a view of the Moon.

Totality will begin at 1:26 a.m. CT Friday and last for a little over an hour.

A total lunar eclipse happens when the full Moon slips into the deepest part of the Earth’s shadow. When that occurs, the Moon glows red because Earth’s atmosphere scatters blue light, but red wavelengths still get through. 

“It’s as if all the world’s sunrises and sunsets are projected onto the Moon,” NASA wrote in a press release about the eclipse.

The red color is also influenced by dust, clouds, ash and other particulates in the atmosphere at the time, meaning that this eclipse will look just a little different from all the others.

Jupiter and Mars will also be visible in the western sky during the eclipse as well.