Look Out For A Lunar Eclipse Or 'Blood Moon' Wednesday Morning

DETROIT (WWJ) - Set your alarm for 5:15 a.m. Wednesday and look east in the sky.

Oakland University Professor Kapila Castoldi says you should be able to spot a lunar eclipse between just after 5 a.m. until around 6:25 a.m.

"Typically the eclipse happens when the moon is at one of the s0-called nodes — basically, when the orbit of the moon meets the orbit of the earth around the sun, which occurs usually twice a year," Castoldi told WWJ's Zahra Huber. "The moon has to be in the full phase, so the full moon is usually rising more or less with the sun."

This rare phenomenon is nicknamed the "blood moon."

"The moon will be gradually entering in the shadow if the earth, and therefore (will) go from the bright, glowing usual white, you know, silvery white color...gradually the color will become progressively more orange," Castoldi said.

If you're not up quite early enough, take a look anyway, Castoldi said. The moon will still be partly shadowed by the earth until around 7:30 a.m., and the eclipse will be most visible the clearer the morning sky.

There will be something else to see in just a couple of weeks.

Castoldi said a rare solar eclipse, which only happens every few years, will take place on Oct. 23, "So stay tuned for that!"