Science

After the Blood Moon: Scientists and Skywatchers React to the March 3, 2026 Total Lunar Eclipse

The March 3, 2026 total lunar eclipse amazed skywatchers worldwide. Scientists and amateur astronomers share reactions and photos from the dramatic blood moon event.

Published

4 months ago

March 5, 2026

Rod Washington

Last Updated on March 5, 2026 by Daily News Staff

Millions of people around the world looked to the sky in the early hours of March 3, 2026 to witness one of the most striking astronomical events of the year — a total lunar eclipse, often referred to as a “Blood Moon.” As the Moon passed completely into Earth’s shadow, it transformed from its familiar silver glow into a deep copper-red color, captivating observers from North America to Asia and across the Pacific.

Blood Moon Aftermath: Scientists and Skywatchers React to the March 3, 2026 Total Lunar Eclipse

For viewers in the western United States, including Arizona and California, the eclipse occurred just before sunrise. The timing created a dramatic scene as the reddish Moon hovered low in the western sky while the eastern horizon began to brighten with dawn.

A Global Skywatching Event

Total lunar eclipses occur when the Sun, Earth, and Moon align so that Earth’s shadow completely covers the Moon. During the March 3 event, the Moon spent nearly an hour fully inside the darkest part of Earth’s shadow, known as the umbra. During this phase, sunlight filtered through Earth’s atmosphere projected reddish light onto the Moon’s surface, creating the dramatic “blood moon” effect.

Astronomers noted that the event was particularly significant because total lunar eclipses are relatively infrequent. While partial eclipses occur more often, a full eclipse visible across large portions of the globe remains a memorable experience for both scientists and casual observers.

Scientists Explain the Phenomenon

According to researchers at NASA, the reddish color seen during totality occurs because Earth’s atmosphere scatters shorter wavelengths of sunlight — such as blue — while allowing longer red wavelengths to pass through. This filtered light is then bent, or refracted, into Earth’s shadow and projected onto the Moon.

Planetary scientists say lunar eclipses provide a powerful visual demonstration of the geometry of the Earth–Moon–Sun system. The curved shadow moving across the Moon also historically served as one of the earliest pieces of evidence that Earth is spherical.

Researchers also point out that lunar eclipses offer opportunities to study Earth’s atmosphere. Variations in dust, volcanic particles, and atmospheric conditions can influence how dark or red the Moon appears during totality.

Taken in North Phoenix around 5 AM MST March 3, 2026

Amateur Astronomers Share Their Views

While professional observatories monitored the eclipse with precision instruments, amateur astronomers and astrophotographers helped document the event from countless locations worldwide. Social media platforms and astronomy forums quickly filled with images showing the Moon’s color shifting from pale gray to orange and deep red.

Many skywatchers in the southwestern United States described the experience as particularly dramatic because the eclipse occurred just before moonset. Observers reported seeing the Moon glowing red above desert landscapes and city skylines before gradually fading into the brightening morning sky.

Astrophotographers also emphasized that lunar eclipses are among the easiest astronomical events to capture. Unlike solar eclipses, they can be photographed safely without special filters, making them accessible to beginners using smartphones as well as professionals using telescopes and high-end cameras.

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A Rare Pre-Dawn Sight

In parts of the western United States, some observers were able to witness a rare atmospheric phenomenon known as a selenelion, when both the eclipsed Moon and the rising Sun appear in the sky at the same time due to atmospheric refraction. The effect added an unusual visual element to an already impressive celestial event.

The combination of a deep red Moon and the approaching dawn created striking photographic opportunities and memorable moments for early-morning skywatchers.

When Is the Next Total Lunar Eclipse?

Although partial eclipses occur periodically, the next widely visible total lunar eclipse will not occur until late 2028. That makes the March 2026 eclipse one of the most notable skywatching events of the decade.

For many observers, the event served as a reminder that some of the most spectacular astronomical experiences require nothing more than stepping outside, looking up, and taking a moment to appreciate the universe above.

References and Further Reading

Rod Washington

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The Earth

Cement has a climate problem — here’s how geopolymers with add‑ins like cork could help fix it

Portland cement drives ~8% of global emissions. Learn how low-carbon geopolymers—enhanced with add-ins like cork—could cut concrete’s footprint.

Published

3 days ago

July 1, 2026

Daily News Staff

file 20260208 56 zgr72e.jpg?ixlib=rb 4.1 — Portland cement, widely used for concrete, is responsible for about 8% of global greenhouse gas emissions. Photovs/iStock/Getty Images Plus

Alcina Johnson Sudagar, Washington University in St. Louis

Concrete is all around you – in the foundation of your home, the bridges you drive over, the sidewalks and buildings of cities. It is often described as the second-most used material by volume on Earth after water.

But the way concrete is made today also makes it a major contributor to climate change.

Portland cement, the key component of concrete, is responsible for about 8% of global greenhouse gas emissions. That’s because it’s made by heating limestone to high temperatures, a process that burns a large amount of fossil fuels for energy and releases carbon dioxide from the limestone in the process.

The good news is that there are alternatives, and they are gaining attention.

Portland cement: A greenhouse gas problem

Cementlike substances have been used in construction for thousands of years. Architects have found evidence of their use in the pyramids of Egypt and the buildings and aqueducts of the Roman Empire.

The Portland cement commonly used in construction today was patented in 1824 by Joseph Aspdin, a British bricklayer.

Modern cement preparation starts with crushing the excavated raw materials limestone and clay and then heating them in a kiln at around 2,650 degrees Fahrenheit (about 1,450 degrees Celsius) to form clinker, a hard, rocklike residue. The clinker is then cooled and ground with gypsum into a fine powder, which is called cement.

About 40% of the carbon dioxide emissions from cement production come from burning fossil fuels to generate the high heat needed to run the kiln. The rest come as the heat converts limestone (calcium carbonate) to lime (calcium oxide), releasing carbon dioxide.

In all, between half a ton and 1 ton of greenhouse gas is released per ton of Portland cement. Cement is a binding agent that, mixed with water, holds aggregate together to create concrete. It makes up about 10% to 15% of the concrete mix by weight.

Alternative technologies can lower emissions

As populations, cities and the need for new infrastructure expand, the use of cement is growing, making it important to find alternatives with lower environmental costs.

Concrete has seen the fastest growth among commonly used construction materials with rising population between 1950 and 2023 — As population has increased, annual global Portland cement production has risen with it. Hao Chen, et al., 2025, CC BY-NC-ND

Some techniques for reducing carbon dioxide emissions include substituting some of the clinker – the hard residue typically made from limestone – with supplementary materials such as clay, or fly ash and slag from industries. Other methods reduce the amount of cement by mixing in waste sawdust or recycled materials like plastics.

The long-term solution for reducing cement’s emissions, however, is to replace traditional cement completely with alternatives. One option is geopolymers made from earthen clay and industrial wastes.

Geopolymers: A more climate-friendly solution

Geopolymers can be made by mixing claylike materials that are rich in aluminum and silicon minerals with a chemical activator through a process called geopolymerization. The activator transforms the silicon and aluminum into a structure that will look like cement. All of this can happen at room temperature.

The major difference between cement and geopolymer is that cement is mainly made of calcium, whereas geopolymers are made of silicon and aluminum with some possible calcium in their structure.

Geopolymers offer advantages with lower number of steps, lower CO2 emission and lower water requirement over Portland cement — How the production of Portland cement and geopolymers compare. Alcina Johnson Sudagar, CC BY-NC

These geopolymers have been found to possess high strength and durability, including resilience in freeze-thaw cycles and resistance to heat and fire, which are important requirements in construction. Studies have found that some geopolymers can provide comparable if not better strength than traditional cement and, because they don’t require heat the way clinker does, they can be produced with significantly lower greenhouse gas emissions.

Geopolymers can also be produced from a variety of raw materials rich in aluminum and silicon, including earthen clays, fly ash, blast furnace slag, rice husk ash, iron ore wastes and recycled construction brick waste. Geopolymer technology can be adapted depending on the clay or industrial waste locally available in a region. https://www.youtube.com/embed/NOj3p6m9M7Q?wmode=transparent&start=0 A brief history of cement and geopolymers. Geopolymer International.

An added advantage of geopolymers is that changes to the mixture can produce a range of features.

For example, I and my co-researchers at the University of Aveiro in Portugal added a small amount of cork industry waste – the leftovers from creating bottle corks – to clay-based geopolymer and found it could improve the strength of the material by up to twofold. The cork particles filled the spaces in the geopolymer structure, making it denser, which increased the strength.

Similarly, additives such as sisal fibers from the agave plant, recycled plastic and steel fibers can change geopolymer properties. The additives do not participate in the geopolymerization process but act as fillers in the structure.

The structure of geopolymers can also be designed to act as adsorbents, attracting toxic metals in wastewater and capturing and storing radioactive wastes. Specifically, incorporating materials like zeolite that are natural adsorbents in the geopolymer structure can make them useful for such applications as well.

Where geopolymers are used now

Geopolymers have been used in many types of construction, including roads, coatings, 3D printing, coastal environmental protection, the steel and chemical industries, sewer rehabilitation and building radiation shielding and rocket launchpad and bunker infrastructure.

One of the earliest examples of a modern geopolymer concrete project was the Brisbane West Wellcamp airport in Australia.

It was built in 2014 with 70,000 metric tons of geopolymer concrete, which was estimated to have reduced the project’s carbon dioxide emissions by as much as 80%.

The geopolymer market is currently estimated to be between US$7 billion and $10 billion, with the largest growth in the Asia-Pacific region.

Analysts have estimated that the market could grow at a rate of 10% to 20% per year and reach about $62 billion by 2033.

In several countries, greenhouse gas regulations and green-building certifications are expected to support the continued growth of geopolymers in the construction industry.

Expanding the use of cement alternatives

The advantage of using industrial wastes in geopolymers is a double-edged sword, however. The composition of industrial wastes varies, so it can be difficult to standardize the processing methods. The geopolymer components need to be mixed in particular ratios to achieve desired properties.

Producing the activator for the geopolymer, typically done in chemical facilities, can raise the cost and contribute to the carbon footprint. And the long-term data about these materials’ stability is only now being developed given their newness. Also, these geopolymers can take longer to set than cement, though the setting time can be sped up by using raw materials that react quickly.

Developing cheaper, naturally available activators like agricultural waste rice husk with sustainable supply chains could help lower the costs and environmental impact. Also, printing the recipe on the raw material packaging could help simplify the job of determining the mixing ratio so geopolymers can be more widely used with confidence.

Even though geopolymer technology has some drawbacks, these low-carbon alternatives have great potential for reducing emissions from the construction sector.

Alcina Johnson Sudagar, Research Scientist in Chemistry, Washington University in St. Louis

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

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