On March 13-14, 2025, a total lunar eclipse of the Full Worm Moon will sweep across parts of Antarctica, the western half of Africa, western Europe, the Atlantic Ocean, the Americas, the Pacific Ocean, eastern Australia, northern Japan and eastern Russia. Total lunar eclipses can turn a deep shade of red and are often called a Blood Moon. How dark will the March 2025 total lunar eclipse be? Watch this video to find out.
Full moon occurs at 06:55 UTC on March 14 (1:55 a.m. CDT). That’s three minutes before the midpoint of the total lunar eclipse.
Penumbral eclipse begins at 03:57 UTC on March 14 (10:57 p.m. CDT on March 13).
Partial eclipse begins at 05:09 UTC on March 14 (12:09 a.m. CDT).
Totality begins (moon engulfed in Earth’s shadow) begins at 06:26 UTC on March 14 (1:26 a.m. CDT).
Maximum eclipse is at 06:58 UTC on March 14 (1:58 a.m. CDT).
Totality ends at 07:32 UTC on March 14 (2:32 a.m. CDT).
Partial eclipse ends at 8:48 UTC on March 14 (3:48 a.m. CDT).
Penumbral eclipse ends at 10:00 UTC on March 14 (5:00 a.m. CDT).
Duration of totality is about 66 minutes.
Note: A total lunar eclipse is when the sun, Earth and moon are aligned in space, with Earth in the middle. Earth’s shadow falls on the moon.
Also, lunar eclipses are safe to view with the unaided eye. Binoculars and telescopes enhance the view, but aren’t required.
Visit timeanddate.com to get eclipse timings from your location.
More eclipse maps, March 13-14, 2025
Where to watch livestreams of the total lunar eclipse
Moon, constellation, Saros
The moment of greatest eclipse takes place 3.4 days before the moon reaches apogee, its farthest point from Earth for the month. In fact, it’s one of three full micromoons in 2025. So, it’s a relatively small-sized moon during this eclipse. At mid-eclipse, the moon is located in the direction of the constellation Leo the Lion.
The Saros catalog describes the periodicity of eclipses. This March 13-14 total eclipse belongs to Saros 123. It is number 53 of 72 eclipses in the series. All eclipses in this series occur at the moon’s descending node. The moon moves northward with respect to the node with each succeeding eclipse in the series.
The instant of greatest eclipse – when the axis of the moon’s shadow cone passes closest to Earth’s center – takes place at 6:58 UTC on March 14 (1:58 a.m. CDT). The moon will lie at zenith – directly overhead – in the Pacific Ocean about 1,111 miles (1,800 kilometers) south of Mexico. This total eclipse is not central, meaning the moon’s disk does not pass through the axis (center) of Earth’s umbral shadow. The moon’s southern limb passes 4.1 arcminutes north of the shadow’s axis and the moon’s northern limb passes 33.9 arcminutes north of the umbral shadow’s center. Thus, the northern portion of the eclipsed moon will not appear as dark as the southern portion, which will lie deeper in the umbral shadow.
Also, the duration of totality lasts almost an hour and six minutes: 66 minutes!
Next eclipse and eclipse seasons
The total lunar eclipse of March 13-14, 2025, is followed two weeks later by a partial solar eclipse on March 29, 2025. These eclipses all take place during a single eclipse season.
An eclipse season is an approximate 35-day period during which it’s inevitable for at least two (and possibly three) eclipses to take place. The current March 2025 eclipse season features a total lunar eclipse on March 13-14 and a partial solar eclipse on March 29.
In 2025 we have another September eclipse season with a total lunar eclipse on September 7, 2025, and a partial solar eclipse on September 21, 2025.
March full moon is the Worm MoonThe 2025 March full moon is the Worm Moon. All the full moons have popular nicknames. Popular names for the March full moon are Worm Moon, Crow Moon and Sap Moon. The name Worm Moon honors the stirring of earthworms and insect larvae in the slowly warming late winter and early spring soil.
March full moon is in LeoThe full moon on the night of March 13-14, 2025, is located in the direction of the constellation Leo the Lion. It glows between Regulus, Leo’s bright star and Virgo’s brightest star, Spica. The moon is roundest on the day when it is full, but the day before and the day after, it appears almost, but not quite, full.
Opposite a Harvest Moon
The March 13-14 full moon is the closest full moon to 2025’s March equinox, which will fall at 9:01 UTC on March 20.
It’s the spring equinox for the Northern Hemisphere. And it’s the autumn equinox for the Southern Hemisphere. So for us in the Northern Hemisphere, the March full moon shows characteristics opposite those of a Harvest Moon. Meanwhile, in the Southern Hemisphere, this full moon has all the Harvest Moon characteristics.
What are the Harvest Moon’s characteristics?
We in the Northern Hemisphere have a tradition of full moon names. We use the term Harvest Moon for the full moon nearest the autumn equinox, in September or October.
And many of the full moons do have unique, seasonal characteristics. All full moons rise at or around sunset. But – because the moon moves eastward in orbit – the moon typically rises about 50 minutes later with each passing day. And, around the time of the Harvest Moon, there’s only a short lag time between successive moonrises. The lag time between successive moonrises reaches a yearly minimum. For instance, at and around 40 degrees south latitude – around the time of the March full moon – the moon rises only about 30 to 35 minutes later daily.
So for the Southern Hemisphere, the short time between successive moonrises continues for several days. And – around the time of the autumn equinox and March full moon – there’s a bright full-looking moon in the early evening sky for several evenings in a row.
March full moon characteristics
In the Northern Hemisphere, in many years, the March full moon is the closest full moon to our spring equinox. So the lag time between successive moonrises reaches a yearly maximum. In other words, there’s an especially long time between moonrises, from one night to the next, around the time of the March full moon.
For instance, at 40 degrees north latitude, the moon rises some 75 minutes later from one night to the next around the time of the March full moon. The longer-than-usual time between successive moonrises continues for several days. So – around the time of the spring equinox and the March full moon – there’s a longer-than-usual period of darkness (no moon) in early evening, for several days in a row around new moon after the date of the full moon.
Arc of March full moon
And it’s not just moonrise times. It’s also the height of the moon’s arc across our sky that follows a specific pattern from month to month and season to season. Every full moon rises in the east as the sun sets in the west. Every full moon arcs across the sky throughout the night and sets around dawn. For us in the Northern Hemisphere, the arc of this March full moon is lower than the paths of the full moons of December, January and February. But it is higher than the paths in April, May, and June.
For those in the Southern Hemisphere, the full moon’s arc across the sky is climbing higher with each successive month. It’ll continue to do so until around the June solstice.
Total lunar eclipse maps and data
- Detailed Lunar Eclipse Figure: eclipse geometry diagram and map of eclipse visibility (key to figure)
- Saros 123 Table: data for all eclipses in the Saros series
- Danjon Scale of Lunar Eclipse Brightness
- Eclipse map and animation
Bottom line: Overnight on March 13-14, 2025, there will be total lunar eclipse of the March Full Worm Moon visible from the Western Hemisphere.
Read more: A total lunar eclipse looks red. Why?
See photos of the November 8, 2022 lunar eclipse
EarthSky’s monthly night sky guide: Visible planets and more
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