I was lucky enough to experience the lunar eclipse as a tour guide on March 3rd this year. It was so magical! The night started snowy, and I was worried that it would be too cloudy for us to see the moon at all, but it transformed into the clearest night we’ve had in weeks by the start of the eclipse. There wasn’t a cloud in sight, and we had a perfect view of the moon.

We were able to see all the phases of the eclipse so clearly! I pointed the telescope at the moon for the majority of the tour so the guests could stay cozy in their chairs with blankets and hot chocolate, listening to me or the other guide talk about the science behind lunar eclipses, the history and myths surrounding them, and ask questions. At the same time, they still had the opportunity to get up and look at the moon in its different phases as many or as few times as they wanted. I was also taking pictures of each phase through the telescope for the entirety of the tour so that we could send the guests home with photos of everything they got to see, allowing them to stay off their phones and really enjoy the night sky.

It started to get quieter as the eclipse neared totality. We were able to see more and more stars become visible as the sky got darker, and everyone watched as the moon changed from a large shadow with a tiny crescent of light on the edge to a deep blood-red color, which is where the term blood moon comes from. Totality lasted for an hour, so we took the opportunity to capture lots of long-exposure photos of each guest with the moon and all the stars that became visible once the moon’s light was gone.

We capitalized on the darkness we wouldn’t usually get during a full moon, and we were able to look at a bunch of stars, constellations, and asterisms that we normally wouldn’t see during this phase of the moon or earlier in the night during our regular tours. We were even able to see the Milky Way just before totality ended, which is such an amazing experience in the middle of winter when we normally wouldn’t get to see it.

Seeing a lunar eclipse through a telescope is definitely a must-do, and everyone adventurous enough to brave the cold and early hour was rewarded with not just a lunar eclipse, but also the Milky Way in winter, and some pretty amazing pictures to prove they were there for both. Bryce won’t get its next lunar eclipse until 2029, so I am incredibly grateful to have been able to experience this one!

On the evening of March 2 and into the early hours of March 3, I had the distinct and most awe-inspiring privilege of simultaneously viewing and presenting in real time to guests of Bryce Canyon Stargazing the Worm and Blood Moon lunar eclipse of 2026. Words fail to describe the raw emotions and literal spiritual goosebumps I encountered in my own mind and soul, but I could also observe that the guests and my coworker Isabel were experiencing the same feelings.

It had been a windy day, like most of late, and also quite cloudy. It even snowed for an hour between 9 and 10 PM. But thereafter, as we approached midnight, the skies cleared and the wind died down, although the temperatures dropped dramatically. We had our powerful telescopes calibrated to the stars, with one set on the Moon as it followed its course across the sky.

By the time guests arrived at 3 AM, the Moon had already entered the penumbral phase on the left-hand side of its face. For the presentation, we focused on what causes lunar eclipses and how very rare and special they are. We talked about myths and superstitions regarding the Blood Moon. All, of course, have been debunked in the present day, but it’s entertaining to have people put themselves in the shoes of ancient civilizations and understand the disconcerting experience a Blood Moon would have been for them.

Once the Moon had entered into the full umbra phase of the eclipse, the sky became darker, with no moonshine lighting up the ground. The sky just exploded with billions of stars, including an arch-shaped Milky Way visible faintly in the east. We had a full 59 minutes during this darkest phase. The Moon was not blood red, but more of a dark copper-orange color due to our sky having very little pollution in Bryce Canyon.

To pass the time, we engaged our guests with our knowledge of many of the stars and constellations in the sky. We shared star stories, like the Southern Paiute story regarding the North Star, “Qui-Ami Wintook Pootsie,” in their language. We also discussed the life phases of stars—how they come to be and how they enrich the universe when they die by creating all of the heavier elements when they eventually go supernova. We humans are literally made of stardust. We owe our physical existence to them.

We also explained more about the Moon; facts and figures, present-day topics like the Artemis expeditions, and how this month’s Moon is called the Worm Moon. This name comes from the time of year when the ground begins to thaw, and earthworms begin their incredible work to reinvigorate the soil of the planet so that all life can begin anew and the cycle of everything living can start once again.

And with this being the Chinese Year of the Fire Horse, the year of new beginnings, this experience truly brought a sense of awakening to my soul.