Go out well before sunrise on Wednesday, May 26, 2021 to see the first total lunar eclipse in over two years. The first bite from the Moon occurs around 2:45 AM in California, with totality between 4:11 - 4:26 AM.
See a detailed schedule and map for your location at TimeAndDate.com. As the Earth's shadow is leaving our satellite, the Moon will set the sun will rise in California before the eclipse ends, but it should still be a great show! (Our colleagues on the East coast will miss most of this eclipse — but probably get more sleep than us.)
Stay up late or get up early! The eclipse begins as the Moon enters the penumbra of Earth's shadow at 1:47 AM. This will result in a slow darkening of the lunar disk, but this may be hard to detect without a camera, where the exposure will change. The eclipse will become obvious when Luna reaches our dark umbral shadow, and a bite becomes slowly visible.
Let's hope for clear skies near the Western Eastern horizon.