Now just days away, meteorologists have a good grasp of what regions will likely have good viewing opportunities during the night. Such a forecast can help you plan, or at least set expectations. Unlike a total solar eclipse — which lasts for mere minutes and occurs over a narrow band of Earth — a lunar eclipse lasts for a long time and is visible to potentially hundreds of millions of people.

A total lunar eclipse occurs when the Earth is positioned directly between the moon and sun, blocking the sun's rays from the moon.