FLORIDA — Sky watchers and astronomy lovers got a very rare treat as a total lunar eclipse dazzled the night sky above Central Florida early Friday morning.

Sometimes, people get confused about what a lunar eclipse, but Andrea Jones explained, “So, a total lunar eclipse happens when the sun, the Earth and the moon all line up in space. So, the moon moves into Earth's shadow and the Earth blocks most of the light from the sun,” said Jones, a planetary geologist and public engagement lead of the Solar System Exploration Division at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center.

When this happens, we get a blood moon, which is another name for a total lunar eclipse.

“But some (light) get up to the moon. And it's that light from around the edges of the Earth that are passing through a lot of the atmosphere, just like we see sunrises and sunsets turning the sky red,” Jones explained Thursday morning, adding, “Well, that red light from all of the sunrises and sunsets happening on Earth at that time are projected onto the moon and turn it a beautiful red color.”

For those who did not mind getting up early, the stellar festival started at 12:55 a.m. but many did not see much until 1:47 a.m. where the Earth’s shadow is covering 50% of the moon.

Totality started at 2:26 a.m. but the height of the eclipse was at 2:59 a.m. The totality ended at 3:31 a.m.

How to view the lunar eclipse

There were a few ways you could watch the blood moon during the early hours of Friday morning, says Frank Kane, the president of Central Florida Astronomical Society.

“The best way to view the eclipse is using whatever equipment you're most comfortable with, which could even just be your own eyes! A simple pair of binoculars works great, however. That little extra magnification can help you see the details of Earth's shadow as it passes over the moon. For the best experience though, a telescope with a field of view of about one degree, on a mount capable of tracking the Moon as it moves across the sky, will unveil the most detail,” he suggested a few days before the big event.

Kane also said that it would be best to practice with your equipment before the lunar eclipse happens and added to try out different exposure times and ISO settings.

New to photography? Here are some terms to help you understand.

“Use your live view setting to make sure you've got things right as the eclipse progresses. Exposure times might range from a fraction of a second at the beginning of the eclipse, to 2-5 seconds at totality. Those longer exposure times means you'll need a telescope mount that can accurately track the moon, to avoid a blurry image,” he advised in an email.

He also stated that lunar eclipses are safe to look at with your eyes, unlike a total solar eclipse where special protective eyewear are needed.

When asked about the best viewing spot to see the total lunar eclipse, Kane said anywhere.

“A great thing about the moon is that it's bright enough to put on a great show no matter where you are. It will be high in the sky during the eclipse, so the location that's most convenient is best,” he said, adding that given how late, or early, the eclipse will happen, “access to coffee might be your main consideration!”

And staying up or waking up might have been worth your while because the next total lunar eclipse will not happen for the whole of North America until 2048. For the Sunshine State, the next one will be in March 2026 and then two in 2029.

In fact, lunar eclipses do not happen every month because the moon has a tilt in its orbit around the Earth, explained Jones, who said Earth’s lunar sister must align just right with our planet and the sun to see it.

Learn about a total lunar eclipse

Who has room for Pi?

The total lunar eclipse happened on Friday, March 14, which is also known as Pi Day.

“It's, it's kind of a rare event to have it on Pi day. There's no like direct association. But because, you know, the first three numbers of Pi or 3.14 and this is the third month and the 14th day we call it Pi day. And so, Pi is actually a really important number for calculating, you know, when the shadow of the Earth will fall onto the moon. And so, it's, it's a beautiful celebration of science as well as a delicious one,” Jones said.