A total lunar eclipse, commonly referred to as a “blood moon,” is expected to occur this week, with visibility projected to be in North America from Thursday to Friday.

Lunar eclipses “occur when the Sun, Earth, and moon align so that the moon passes into Earth’s shadow.” During a total lunar eclipse, the moon passes by the darkest part of Earth’s shadow known as the umbra and makes the moon appear a red-orange color, giving it the “blood moon” nickname according to NASA.

According to reports, this week’s Total Eclipse is said to be the first since 2022.

The totality of the event is projected to last for 65 minutes, during which the moon will be entirely within Earth’s umbral shadow, and the moon will appear slightly smaller than on average because it will be near to apogee, its farthest point from Earth during each orbit.

The eclipse will begin at 11:57 p.m. EDT, and reach totality at 2:26 a.m. before ending at 3:31 a.m. The entire eclipse, however, is set to end at 6:00 a.m

 The events will be visible across North America — including all 50 states — South America, Europe, Africa and Oceania — which includes New Zealand as per Space.com.