On September 7, the moon will step into Earth’s shadow and emerge stained in deep red. The “blood moon.” It’s the second total lunar eclipse of 2025, and if the weather plays along, roughly 77 percent of the planet’s population will see the show.
The best seats are in Asia and Western Australia, where the entire eclipse will be visible from start to finish. Viewers in Europe, Africa, eastern Australia, and New Zealand may still catch totality—the 82 minutes when the moon sits fully in Earth’s umbra, the shadow’s dark inner core—but it depends on when the moon rises in your sky.
In some European cities, it will climb over the horizon already glowing deep red, an entrance more dramatic than most sunrises.
A Total Lunar Eclipse Will Create A Blood Moon On September 7, 2025
Totality runs from 17:30 to 18:52 GMT, with the partial eclipse starting about 75 minutes earlier. In Perth, it’s 1:30 to 2:52 a.m. on Sept. 8; Mumbai gets it from 11:00 p.m. to 12:22 a.m.; Cairo from 8:30 to 9:52 p.m.; and Cape Town from 7:30 to 8:52 p.m. Wherever you are, check Time and Date for precise local timings. Sadly, the U.S. will be missing out on this one.
This eclipse comes just 2.7 days before perigee, when the moon is closest to Earth. It won’t be a full-blown supermoon, but it will appear slightly larger than usual. More striking will be the color. About 36 percent of the moon’s diameter will pass through the darkest part of Earth’s shadow, which scatters shorter wavelengths of light and lets through the redder tones. The result: a saturated, rust-colored moon hanging low in the night.
If you’re watching, it’s worth sticking around before and after totality. Early on, you’ll see Earth’s curved shadow bite into the moon’s edge. After the deep red phase, the moon slowly regains its silvery light, a process that feels slower than it looks on paper. Binoculars or a small telescope will sharpen the details, but the naked-eye view is still plenty striking.
And if you’re in a part of the world where the eclipse isn’t visible, you’re not out of luck—Space.com will stream the event live.
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