Photos show lunar eclipse in Pittsburgh turning moon red

A near-total lunar eclipse turned the moon above the Pittsburgh area red on Thursday night into Friday morning.  

Photos from around western Pennsylvania show the deep partial eclipse, where a little more than 96% of the moon turned a reddish hue over the span of about three hours. 

Lunar eclipses happen when Earth is between the moon and the sun, causing the Earth's shadow to fall over the moon. When enough of the moon is covered, it turns red, creating what's called a blood moon.

"During a lunar eclipse, the Moon appears red or orange because any sunlight that's not blocked by our planet is filtered through a thick slice of Earth's atmosphere on its way to the lunar surface," NASA explains on its website. "It's as if all the world's sunrises and sunsets are projected onto the Moon."

This partial eclipse was visible nearly everywhere in the Americas, except for Alaska and northwestern Canada. It could also be seen in western Europe and western Africa. 

The next total lunar eclipse won't be visible in the U.S. until 2029. 

Here are photos of what the moon looked like above western Pennsylvania on Thursday night into Friday morning.