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When the moon shines in the night sky until the early hours of Friday morning on Thursday, you will have the chance to witness a celestial phenomenon not seen since the 1440s.

A partial lunar eclipse, but in reality almost a total lunar eclipse, will dazzle skywatchers and night owls early Friday morning (or late Thursday night if you’re on the West Coast). During the event, the moon will creep in Earth’s shadow for just over six hours, the longest partial lunar eclipse in 580 years.

Here’s what you need to know about the eclipse on Thursday and Friday, also called the blood moon, and… a beaver bear.

When and where can I see the eclipse?

The astronomical phenomenon will play out in the night sky over North America, large parts of northern South America, northeast Asia, and the eastern side of Australia.

The full moon will dance in harmony with the Earth and the sun. According to NASA, Earth’s shadow will gradually cover the visible lunar surface, then recede to reveal normal moonlight, in a process that takes exactly six hours and two minutes.

The extended spectacle means you’ll have plenty of time to catch at least some of the eclipse. Beginning at 01:02 ET, the moon will begin to enter the outer part of Earth’s shadow, called the penumbra. When the shadow is almost completely hidden in full shade or the darkest part of the shadow, it will gradually darken as it creeps across its surface for about an hour before a partial lunar eclipse occurs at 2:19 pm.

At 3:45 p.m. the colors will become visible and take on a rusty amber hue, like a celestial sunset pouring onto the lunar surface. This shadow will build up intensity for the eclipse’s peak at 4:03, which covers 99.1 percent of the moon’s face in the Earth’s shadow. By 4:20 p.m., the shadow will cross the surface of the moon until the colors are no longer visible, and the eclipse will disappear as the moon gradually aligns. The show officially ends at 07:04

How can I see the lunar eclipse?

It’s pretty simple: just look above. No telescope or binoculars required. If you can see the moon from where you are, you should be able to see it during the eclipse as well. Resetting with one of these tools will give you the opportunity to take on some aspects of the near side of the moon in a new tone.

Why does the moon change color during a lunar eclipse?

During the eclipse’s peak, the moon will appear in deep hues of red and orange, and will glow the surface of its nearer side facing our planet in the brilliance of colored sunlight filtered by Earth’s atmosphere.

“If the sky is clear, it’s worth getting up even early in the morning,” said astronomer Allyson Bieryla, who manages the telescopes at Harvard University’s Astronomy Laboratory.

The colors are the result of the same effect that casts pink, red, and magenta hues to sunsets on Earth, a process called Rayleigh scattering. Light waves from the sun appear in shades of blue when irradiated directly into the atmosphere during the day, and appear yellowish to reddish as they pass through thicker areas of the atmosphere during sunset.

On normal nights, the moon gets its white glow in the night sky when sunlight reflects off its surface. But on Friday, like a massive planetary filter, sunlight will pass through the mouth of Earth’s atmosphere and reflect sunset colors on the lunar surface.

Why is this eclipse taking so long?

Lunar eclipses occur about twice a year when the Earth falls directly between the moon and the sun – for example, a Total lunar eclipse in May he was also a supermoon. But they usually last for much shorter periods of time. The second slowest eclipse of the century before Friday took place in 2018 and lasted one hour and 43 minutes.

The three-and-a-half hour eclipse duration for Friday’s event, which is 580 years in the making, is a rare choreography of both the planetary alignment and the Moon’s slightly unstable orbit around Earth. The Moon’s orbit is somewhat elliptical; Its distance from the Earth’s surface changes slightly as it circles the planet.

“This small distance difference affects the apparent size of objects and how long it takes for a shadow to pass,” Bieryla said. During Friday’s eclipse, the moon will be orbiting at one of its furthest distances from the surface—like the opposite of a supermoon, when the Moon is closest to Earth—as it falls into Earth’s orbit.

The eclipse offers the chance to see the motion of the solar system happen in real time. While it will appear all over the United States, you cannot see it in person if you are on the other side of the world. But Flagstaff’s Lowell Observatory, Ariz. live YouTube stream of the event.

“A solar eclipse or a meteor shower, any of these events, people just stare for a moment and enjoy the beauty of nature,” Bieryla said. “These little moments that remind you that there is so much more out there.”