Total lunar eclipse set for Friday in southwestern Ontario [Video]

A total lunar eclipse is a phenomenon that happens every few years and the next opportunity to see it throughout southwestern Ontario will be early Friday morning.

Shortly after midnight, stargazers can catch a glimpse of the total lunar eclipse, or a full worm blood moon.

The origin of the name is two-fold. Orbax Thomas, science communicator with the physics department at the University of Guelph, said the first part of the name references the fact that March is the first month after a long winter where the ground thaws and worms make their way up to the ground’s surface for the birds to eat.

“Because it’s a worm moon and it’s a blood moon, it gives us the most ridiculous astronomical moniker that you’ll have this year,” Thomas said of the lunar eclipse, which last appeared in November 2022. “As the moon enters into the shadow of the earth, it goes dark for …