When will the lunar eclipse be visible from Metro Vancouver?

Metro Vancouver's stargazers, early risers and night owls have a good chance of viewing a total lunar eclipse – dubbed the blood beaver moon – in the wee hours of Tuesday morning.

CTV News Science and Technology Specialist Dan Riskin says the partial eclipse will be visible starting around 1 a.m. with the total eclipse occurring between 2:16 a.m. and 3:41 a.m.

"There is something special, if you can manage it, about looking up into the sky and seeing that moon covered by the full eclipse, the shadow of the earth," he told CTV Morning Live on Monday.

"The big huge Earth is casting its shadow on the moon, and when the moon is in darkness anyone on Earth who can see the moon can see the eclipse happening. It's not a matter of being in the right place to see the eclipse – if you can see the moon, it works."

However, due to the timing of this particular celestial event, Riskin says British Columbians are at an advantage.

"Everybody's jealous of western North America right now because that's where the view is best," Riskin says, suggesting it's a good chance for parents to witness something spectacular with their kids.

"I know it's early, it's the middle of the night, but if you have a kid that's of an age where you can wake them up to show them and get them back to bed somehow, it's pretty cool because you get a sense of your place in the solar system."

The early morning forecast for the Lower Mainland is mixed, so the possibility remains that the region's notoriously cloudy and rainy weather will put a damper on people's plans. And there are also likely people who just won't be able to stay up or set a middle-of-the-night alarm. In those cases, Riskin says there are ways to watch it online and that social media will likely be flooded with photos.

WHERE DOES THE NAME COME FROM?

Every full moon in November – whether there's an eclipse or not – is called a beaver moon, according to Riskin.

"Historically, in North America, that was a time when beavers were harvested for their pelts so you'd have something warm to wear it through the winter," he says.

And every full lunar eclipse is called a blood moon because the moon takes on a particular hue.

"It's like a giant sunset all the way around the Earth. It's bathing the moon in red light, and so that's where you get that blood colour."

The next total lunar eclipse is not until 2025.