The coming March brings us into 2025's eclipse season, and in the midnight hours between March 13th and 14th, a total lunar eclipse will occur. If you’ve never witnessed this event before and happened to be a resident in the Western Hemisphere—including North and South America (United States of America, Canada and Mexico etc.)—it’s absolutely worth staying up late for!
And since you’re reading this article, there’s a good chance you’re a DWARFLAB telescope owner, so why waste the opportunity to capture some stunning blood moon eclipse moon photos.
Keep reading and get prepped for the first lunar eclipse in 2025 together with DWARFLAB! 🌕
Source: timeanddate.com/Visibility Region of Total Lunar Eclipse
1. What is a Lunar Eclipse?
A lunar eclipse occurs when Earth aligns between the Sun and the Moon, casting a shadow on the Moon.
If you’re not quite sure how it works, we recommend watching these videos, they also explain very clearly how you can expect the moon to look like during such an event:
NASA | Understanding Lunar Eclipses
Lunar Eclipse 101 | National Geographic
Sorce: National Geographic
Depending on how the Moon moves through Earth's shadow, there are three types of lunar eclipses:
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Penumbral Lunar Eclipse: The Moon passes through Earth's penumbra (lighter outer shadow), causing a subtle dimming that is often hard to notice.
Source:timeanddate.com/Moon in Penumbra Area
Comparing of Normal Moon and Moon Passing Penumbra Area
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Partial Lunar Eclipse: Part of the Moon enters Earth's umbra (dark central shadow), creating a visible dark segment on the Moon.
Source: The Secrets of the Universe/The Moon Entering Umbra Area
Shot by Matthew Peters with DWARF 3
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Total Lunar Eclipse: The entire Moon is engulfed in Earth's umbra, turning a deep reddish hue—commonly referred to as a "Blood Moon."
Source:The Secrets of the Universe/The Moon in Umbra Area
During a total lunar eclipse, the Moon takes on its iconic red hue because Earth's atmosphere scatters blue light and allows red light to pass through—a phenomenon known as Rayleigh scattering. This creates the stunning "Blood Moon" effect.
Credit: Westend61 via Getty Images
The March 2025 eclipse is a total lunar eclipse, offering a rare chance to witness this breathtaking transformation. For astronomy enthusiasts, it’s a vivid demonstration of the solar system in motion. For photographers, it’s an opportunity to capture the Moon’s dramatic shift from bright silver to deep crimson.
2. Details of the March 2025 Total Lunar Eclipse
Date, Time & Visibility
The lunar eclipse will occur on March 13–14, 2025.
Visible Locations: North America, South America, Europe, and Africa.
Not Visible: Most of Oceania and eastern Asia.
Visibility map for the total lunar eclipse on March 13-14, 2025. Credit: Vito Technology, Inc.
For exact timing, please visit Time and Date and enter your observation location.
This excellent website not only provides information about the upcoming lunar eclipse and the simulation video but also offers a step-by-step visualization of the eclipse process along with the timing of each phase. If you’re planning to capture the event, this feature will be especially useful.
Never Forget Weather Check! That said, it looks like our friends in San Francisco might not be so lucky—good weather in March is truly a rare find.
Again, to learn more about the meaning of those terms and getting the time frame of your own zone, visit HERE and dig into those fun readings.
3. Easily Capture the 2025 Total Lunar Eclipse with DWARFLAB Telescope
3.1 Why not Choose DWARFLAB Smart Telescopes?
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Portable: Lightweight and easy to carry for outdoor adventures.
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Auto-Tracking: Effortlessly keeps celestial objects like the Moon centered.
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Smart Observation Modes: Features Time-Lapse, Burst, Video, and Astro modes for versatile use.
As the most portable smart telescope on the market, DWARF has the size of a dictionary and weighs less than two pounds, making it easy for you to carry it on a plane or in the backseat of your car. With its built-in rotatable celestial tracking base and 700mm long-focus dual lenses, you can easily locate and track the moon. Combined with the user-friendly DWARFLAB App, a few minutes of simple setup allows you to track and record the entire eclipse process and share it instantly with just one click on your phone. With DWARF, fully enjoy this universe show without the hassle of fumbling with your camera halfway through!
3.2 How to Prepare for Observation
Equipment Checklist:
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Fully charged and DWARF II or DWARF 3 telescope, equipped with latest firmware.
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A stable Tripod.
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A Smartphone with the DWARFLAB App installed.
Observation Tips:
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Select a clear, dark site with minimal light pollution for the best viewing experience.
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Use Apps like Stellarium or note down ahead the time frame from timeanddate.com to check the timing and position of the eclipse.
3.3 Lunar Photography Tutorial
3.3.1 Moon Photography Demo
1. Level the Telescope: Place it on a stable surface to ensure accurate tracking.
2. Power on and Connect: Press the power button and connect it to your phone.
3. Locate the Moon and Focus: Face the lenses approximately towards the moon , then use dual-lenses locating or the joystick to center the moon in the tele photo view.
Please note, due to the absence of calibration in this process, it is very important to keep the lens cylinder face to the front side (DWARFLAB Logo) while tracking the sun and moon.
*Dual Lenses Locating: Switch to and double-click the wide-angle view moves the green frame indicator (telephoto view). This feature allows you to locate and quickly focus on objects in the wide-angle lens, like birds in the backyard, pedestrians on the street, or celestial bodies in deep space.
For more about dual lens control, refer to here. Switch to the telephoto lens and click auto-focus. Dwarf will automatically detect the moon and apply the best settings (brightness) for it.
4. Tracking and Choose Shooting Mode: Enable "Function-Moon Track" in the App. The telescope will automatically follow the Moon's movement, keeping it centered in the frame, allowing continuous observation or shooting videos/time-lapses/stacked photos after changing shooting mode to Photo/Video/Burst/Time-lapse/Astro.
5. Adjust Parameters and Shoot: During auto-focus, the camera auto-adjusts the suitable parameters, if you may know, typically at 1/250s-1/200s exposure, gain at 0, and VIS filter. Do adjust hue and WB as preferred. If you want to manually focus, you can use two fingers to zoom in on the screen, and then manually adjust the number of the focus steps until the image appears sharp to you. Press 'shoot' to take your first moon photo!
The above is the complete process for taking pictures of the Moon. You can practice it a few times in advance to familiarize yourself with the shooting process.
Here's a summary of shooting steps:
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Setup and level the unit
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Power on and connect to your phone
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Use the dual-lens and joystick to locate and center the Moon in the wide-angle view
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Switch to the telephoto view and tap "AF" for automatic focus or focus manually
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Choose "Function-Moon Track"
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Switch to your preferred shooting mode
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Configure settings like shooting duration/shutter/gain etc.
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Click shoot to start imaging
3.3.2 Lunar Eclipse Tips
1. During the lunar eclipse, the Moon’s brightness will dim. We strongly recommend adjusting the shutter time based on local weather conditions and personal preference. Typically, longer exposure times are needed, sometimes reaching 0.5–2s, while keeping the gain at 0 to reduce noise.
2. If you want to switch to other shooting modes, such as time-lapse photography, you can do so after successfully tracking the Moon and adjusting the parameters. Simply click to switch modes, then start capturing.
Recommended Parameters:
During a total lunar eclipse, the Moon gradually darkens and may even appear deep red, so the exposure time needs to be longer than during a full moon.
•Penumbral Phase: The Moon remains relatively bright. Recommended settings: Exposure 1/500s - 1/250s, Gain 0.
•Partial to Total Phase: The brightness decreases. Recommended settings: Exposure 1/100s - 1s, Gain 0.
•Totality Phase: The Moon is at its darkest. Recommended settings: Exposure 0.5s - 2s, Gain 0 or slightly increased if necessary.
*White Balance: Adjust hues to highlight the natural colors of the Moon or enhance the reddish tone during the Blood Moon phase.
A data visualization depicting a telescopic view of the Moon during the progression of the March 2025 total lunar eclipse.
Credit: NASA's Scientific Visualization Studio
Recommended Shooting Modes:
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Time-Lapse Mode:
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Ideal for capturing the entire eclipse process.
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Set intervals and duration.
An example calculation: a 5-second interval with a 10-minute shooting duration results in 120 frames (600 seconds / 5 seconds), creating a 4-second video at 30 fps (frames per second). Ignore it if you hate math and follow the table below to apply duration and intervals. -
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Burst Mode:
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Use for capturing specific moments like the transition into the red phase (Blood Moon).
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Configure short intervals (1-5 seconds) for rapid image capture.
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Set the time interval (from 1s to 60s) and the number taken in this set of pictures. Note that there's a brief delay in saving photos after hitting stop on taking the burst. So it might take some time for the photos to show up in the album.
The change of interval settings during a shooting session will take effect to make sure you get a better record of a whole imaging process saying totality.
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Video Mode:
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Record dynamic footage of the Moon's movement during the eclipse.
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Ensure sufficient storage space for extended recording. (64GB is enough for 3-4 hours of 4K full frame footage)
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Tips for Capturing Special Phenomena:
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Increase exposure and adjust white balance to emphasize the reddish tone.
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Use Time-Lapse mode to catch the transition into and out of the red phase.
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Familiarize yourself with the telescope's features and App interface by practicing on a full Moon or similar celestial objects.
Fun Facts:
You should know that a lunar eclipse never appears alone. Typically, 14 days after a lunar eclipse, when the Moon reaches from earth's back to between the Earth and the Sun, a solar eclipse occurs. However, since the Moon is relatively small, the visible region of a solar eclipse is limited. This March, the solar eclipse will only be visible in the northeastern United States and Canada, as well as parts of Europe, Africa, and Russia.
Expect another walkthrough from DWARFLAB!
Source:timeanddate.com/Simulating Lunar Eclipse