APEX, N.C. – In 2017, the craze of a solar eclipse was experienced in the United States. Though less exciting, on Monday, January 31, 2018, a lunar eclipse was witnessed. A lunar eclipse is when the moon passes directly behind the Earth and into the Earth’s shadow creating a red-orange color due to the refraction of light from the sun. lunar eclipses can only occur when the Earth and Moon are close to aligned. In other words, lunar eclipses only occur when there is a full moon.

The entire lunar eclipse lasted for over 6 hours. In Apex, the maximum visibility was at 7:10 a.m. While most  Apex residents may have been asleep, other may have been driving their morning commute, allowing them to view the lunar eclipse. About 90% of the world saw some form of the lunar eclipse on January 31, and about 25% of the World saw the entire eclipse from start to end. These places included parts of Australia, Russia, China, and the United States (Alaska and Hawaii).

There will be another lunar eclipse in 2018, but it will not be visible from anywhere in The United States. The next lunar eclipse that will be visible in Apex is on January 20, 2019.