‘Blood moon’: How to watch the longest lunar eclipse of the century

The moon will turn blood red in the shadow of the Earth on Friday night, treating most of the world to the longest lunar eclipse in a century.

The rare cosmic event won’t be visible to skywatchers in Canada, the U.S. or Greenland, but it should be at least partially visible everywhere else.

WATCH: People around the world anticipating blood moon, the longest lunar eclipse in history

1:19 People around the world anticipating blood moon, the longest lunar eclipse in history

Viewers in the Middle East, eastern Africa, southern Asia and India will be in prime position to witness the entire eclipse. It should also be at least partially visible from Europe, Australia, South America and most of eastern Asia, although the total eclipse phase will not last as long.

Global News will be live-streaming the eclipse for viewers around the world beginning at 3 p.m. Eastern Time (5 p.m. Universal Time). The stream will include footage from London, Rome, Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur, Manila, Delhi, Seoul and Rio de Janeiro.

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The moon will be totally eclipsed for an estimated 1 hour and 43 minutes in the prime viewing region, according to NASA predictions. The whole event will last just under four hours from beginning to end.

WATCH BELOW: See a total lunar eclipse from 2015

The Earth’s red shadow will begin creeping across the moon at 1:15 p.m. Eastern Time (5:15 p.m. Universal Time), but it won’t reach the full eclipse phase until 3:30 p.m. ET (7:30 p.m. UT).

Unlike a solar eclipse, it’s completely safe to watch a lunar eclipse with the naked eye.

A lunar eclipse occurs when the Earth lines up between the sun and the moon, blocking out the sun’s light and casting a shadow on the lunar surface. The Earth’s shadow appears red because of its atmosphere.

“The light from the sun goes through the Earth’s atmosphere on its way to the moon, and the Earth’s atmosphere turns it red in the same way that when the sun goes down, it goes red,” astronomy professor Andrew Fabian, of the University of Cambridge, told Reuters.

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "The light from the sun goes through the Earth's atmosphere on its way to the moon, and the Earth's atmosphere turns it red in the same way that when the sun goes down, it goes red," astronomy professor Andrew Fabian, of the University of Cambridge, told Reuters.

“If you were standing on the moon in this eclipse, you would see the sun and then the earth would come in the way and blot out the sun,” said Fabian. “The rim of the Earth would be glowing because light is being scattered by the Earth’s atmosphere.”

The last lunar eclipse visible from North America occurred in late January of 2018.

The next lengthy lunar eclipse is scheduled for 2123.

—With files from Reuters