Cloudy skies could ruin tonight’s blood moon in Costa Rica

Partly cloudy skies might make it difficult to view tonight’s full lunar eclipse from Costa Rica, according to the National Meteorological Institute.

A total lunar eclipse, also known as a blood moon, will be visible in North and Central America early Tuesday morning, the first of four consecutive total lunar eclipses that will appear in the region’s skies between now and Sept. 28, 2015.

According to NASA, the event will begin at midnight, Costa Rica time, when the earth’s shadow will creep over the moon’s surface. However the light show might be dimmed in most of Costa Rica due to cloud cover.  The National Meteorological Institute told La Nación that the eclipse can be best seen from Guanacaste and in lower areas of the Central Valley.

Once the sun, moon and earth are completely in line – about an hour after the eclipse starts – the moon will assume a coppery red hue caused by the sunlight peeking out from behind the earth and illuminating the moon. The red moon will hang in the sky for about an hour.

Get NASA’s explanation here:

For those looking to geek out on astronomy, NASA is hosting two live online events to commemorate the occasion. Between noon and 1 p.m. there will be a Reddit Ask Me Anything with planetary scientist Renee Weber. Starting at 11:45 p.m., NASA astronomer Mitzi Adams and astrophysicist Alphonse Sterling will also answer questions in a live web chat that will continue through the eclipse, ending at around 3 a.m.