Blood Moon Total Lunar Eclipse 2022: When To See It In New York City

NEW YORK CITY — The city that never sleeps could see two total lunar eclipses turn May’s full flower moon "blood" red Sunday night, if the weather behaves.

East coasters —and all of South America — have the chance to see every stage of the lunar eclipse Sunday and Monday, according to NASA.

But forecasters predict swampy weekend weather with clouds and a 30 percent chance of showers Sunday night.

(New York City also has that pesky light pollution that makes our skyline look neat but doesn't do much for stargazing.)

Moonrise will be about 7:50 p.m. Sunday with the partial eclipse starting at 10:28 p.m. and totality peaking at 12:11 a.m., according to NASA.

Totality will last about 1 hour and 25 minutes — the eclipse ends at 1:55 a.m. — and the moon will shine until setting at about 5:50 a.m. Monday.

Lunar eclipses only occur at full moon, when the moon and son are positioned on opposite sides of Earth, and the sun fully illuminates the moon's face.

The name “Blood moon” may be wonderful fodder for that horror screenplay you've got hidden in your desk drawer, but when it comes to technicality, The Old Farmer’s Almanac says the phrase is “hyped.”

A fully eclipsed moon is copper-colored like a penny, but not blood red, the Almanac contends.

Dust, volcanic ash and other particulate matter in the atmosphere can also have an effect on moon’s color at totality, according to Space.com.

Eclipse-gazers may believe this event will be super, but that doesn't necessarily mean it's a supermoon.

That's because "Supermoon" isn’t an astronomical term, but a name coined by astrologer Richard Nolle, who calls a full or new moon a supermoon when it is at 90 percent of its closest point, or perigee, to Earth.

Under Nolle’s definition, four full moons meet supermoon criteria: a new or “stealth” moon on Jan. 14, full moons on June 14 and July 13, and a new moon on Dec. 23.

But Fred Espenak, a retired NASA astrophysicist, argues the May flower moon is the first of four supermoons in 2022.

• Related: 2022 Guide To Meteor Showers, Lunar Eclipses, Supermoons

And again, this could all be a moot moon point if visibility is poor the night of the big event.

Should clouds cover the eclipse — or should you decide to sleep through it because Mondays are important — the second 2022 total lunar eclipse on Nov. 8.