A lunar eclipse is taking place early Tuesday morning. Here's how Manitobans can see it

If conditions are right and the sky is clear, Manitobans might want to get up early on Tuesday morning to see a beautiful site – a total lunar eclipse.

The lunar eclipse begins at around 2 a.m. on Tuesday and will last until sunrise in Manitoba. During the event -- which occurs when the sun, Earth and moon align so the moon passes into the earth’s shadow --the colour of the moon will change from minute to minute and create something beautiful to watch.

“This is definitely one of the big events of the year, astronomically speaking,” said Scott Young, planetarium astronomer in an interview with CTV Morning Live on Monday.

“Lunar eclipses happen a couple of times every year but we don’t always get a chance to see them, so this is a nice opportunity to see a total lunar eclipse.”

Young explained that, unlike a solar eclipse, the lunar eclipse is safe for people to look at with the naked eye, though Manitobans can also use binoculars if they want to get a close-up view. He added that the eclipse doesn’t just last a few minutes, and you don’t have to be in a special spot to see it.

“Any place that it’s dark and clear in Canada, you’ll be able to see this event,” he said.

Young said the eclipse will include some minor stages, as well as some “interesting” and “beautiful” stages. He suggested to start watching at around 3:10 a.m., which is when the moon goes into the darkest part of the earth’s shadow.

“You’ll see the curved shadow of the earth creeping across the moon,” he said.

Young added that at about 4:15 a.m., the moon will be totally in that shadow, which is when the bright part of the moon is covered and the “blood moon” and red colours will come out. This will last until about 5:20 a.m.

He added that the whole eclipse undoes itself in the span of about an hour.

“The moon moves out of the shadow, and for us here in Manitoba, the moon will set just before the eclipse finishes right around 6:47 a.m.,” he said.

The Manitoba Museum’s Planetarium is holding an event from 2 a.m. to 6 a.m. on Tuesday for people to experience the lunar eclipse through a live stream.

“The plan is to find a place where there are clear skies in southern Manitoba, set up and live stream the entire eclipse,” Young said.

However, if it turns out to be too cloudy in Manitoba, Manitoba’s planetarium will work with a planetarium in a different part of the country or the United States to stream it.

“Even if it’s cloudy here, you’ll get a good view on the internet,” Young said.

- With files from CTV’s Rachel Lagace.