In the late hours of Monday, April 14th, the moon was full and bright. Here in Coeur d’Alene it was a bit cloudy, which made it harder to see the moon, but that didn’t stop people from staying up and watching the brightness slowly decrease until the Blood Moon was shining.

The moon began to seemingly shrink at around 11 PM western time and slowly continued to shrink over the course of an hour until only a small sliver was left to be seen. At approximately 12:08 AM  Pacific Time on the 15th, the moon reached its full eclipse and finally showed it’s true self: The Blood Moon.

A total Lunar Eclipse occurs when the sun, moon and earth align in a way that they’re in a straight line, so the earth blocks out the suns rays from the moon and eclipses it with its shadow.

The red, coppery color–hence the name ‘Blood Moon’–comes from tiny rays of sunlight that seep through the earths atmosphere. This gives the moon its reddish hue.

All of Monday night, stargazers were out on their back porches, lawns, and even in open fields to get the full view of the eclipse, and were not disappointed. The Blood Moon was a spectacular sight for all of North Idaho to behold!

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