Total Lunar Eclipse Tonight

Moon-gazers are in for a rare treat early Tuesday morning, as the winter solstice kicks off with a total lunar eclipse, the first time the two events have coincided since 1638, according to NASA's eclipse website.

Starting at 1:33 a.m. on Tuesday, Dec. 21, the moon will pass through Earth's shadow, creating a 72-minute window where the moon will be  glowing red on the longest night of the year.

NASA says the moon will be in its deepest shadow at 3:17 a.m., and will display its most pronounced reddish hue at that time. It will fully re-emerge from the shadow of the Earth at 5:01 a.m. 

In preparation for the celestial occurrence, NASA has rolled out a range of activities and features, including live web chats, a text message sign up campaign to receive text reminders, and a Flickr group devoted to amateur and professional photographers capturing the action.

Local eclipse times:

The last eclipse this year, which happened on June 26, was nowhere near as vivid as Tuesday morning's is expected to be.

The color and brightness of the totally eclipsed moon, according to NASA, should be a dark eclipse because of eruptions at Indonesia's Mount Merapi volcano. Dark eclipses are caused by volcanic gas and dust that filter and block much of the sun's light from reaching the moon, according to the website.

The total eclipse phase is going to be bright red and orange.

When the moon is completely concealed by Earth, this is known by space experts as totality. Tuesday morning's totality will last just slightly more than 72 minutes, longer than the last total lunar eclipse, NASA officials said.

According to EarthSky.org, a Web site that features daily accounts of the coming night's sky, the moon will be high in sky and to the north, since it is opposite the low, winter sun. That means locations with an unobstructed view of the north sky will be the prime viewing locations.