Those who glance up at the sky tonight will have an opportunity to catch the March 2025 "Blood Moon," a phenomenon that colors the full moon in shades of red, orange and yellow during a total lunar eclipse.

This month's full moon is due to pass through the shadow of Earth either late tonight, March 13, or very early tomorrow morning, March 14, depending on the viewer's time zone. It should be visible to people in the Americas and elsewhere in the Western Hemisphere.

Dubbed the "Worm Moon" by the Farmer's Almanac, which has been assigning names to full moons for almost a century, this one is expected to start taking shape Wednesday evening and is supposed to last through Saturday morning, according to NASA. The full moon will technically rise in its totality early Friday.

Here's what to know about the event — and why the moon will bear a new hue when it happens.

Why will the moon be red, orange and yellow tonight?

The moon will appear to turn red late tonight or early tomorrow morning, depending on skywatchers' locations, as Earth passes directly between it and the sun in what's known as a total lunar eclipse. Their perfect alignment darkens the moon, from the perspective of folks looking up, because our planet's position blocks most sunlight from reaching it.

Some light still makes its way to the moon's surface, but only certain shades of it. The colors that wind up there are longer wavelengths of light — red, orange, yellow — which withstood the journey through "a thick slice of Earth's atmosphere," NASA said.