( CNN ) -- The moon disappeared from view along the U.S. West Coast on Saturday amid a total lunar eclipse . Images from Seattle , Washington , showed the moon 's crescent waning from a Cheshire cat 's grin to a shadowy sliver before disappearing entirely in the night sky . All of the United States was able to see some portion of the event , though the West Coast had `` a more complete view '' and was able to see the totality -- the time when the Earth 's shadow completely covers the moon . The totality on the West Coast was timed as the moon sets and the sun rises , NASA said . It lasted 51 minutes . `` A lunar eclipse occurs when Earth is directly between the sun and the moon , blocking the sun 's rays and casting a shadow on the moon . As the moon moves deeper and deeper into Earth 's shadow , the moon changes color before your very eyes , turning from gray to an orange or deep shade of red , '' the NASA website said . `` The moon takes on this new color because sunlight is still able to pass through Earth 's atmosphere and cast a glow on the moon . Our atmosphere filters out most of the blue colored light , leaving the red and orange hues that we see during a lunar eclipse . If there are additional dust particles in the atmosphere , the moon will appear to be a darker shade of red , '' NASA said . CNN iReporter Bob Cronk took time-lapse video images of the eclipse from his condo on the 17th floor in Portland , Oregon . `` I thought it was pretty cool , '' Cronk said . `` I really wanted to see it turn red . '' Instead , the moon disappeared behind fog . Watch iReporter 's time-lapse images of the eclipse . NASA 's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter spacecraft , which is orbiting 31 miles above the moon , got a front-row seat to the lunar eclipse , the last of the year , NASA said . The orbiter was to record how quickly certain parts of the moon would cool off during the eclipse , NASA said . The next opportunity to view a total lunar eclipse from the United States is April 15 , 2014 . CNN 's Michael Martinez and Phil Gast contributed to this report .
Viewers on the West Coast were able to see the total eclipse . During totality , the Earth 's shadow completely covers the moon . Next U.S. opportunity to see total lunar eclipse is in April 2014 .