It might be worth rolling out of bed early Saturday to catch the last total lunar eclipse until 2014.

Actually, the moon plays coy, setting at 7:12 a.m. about 20 minutes before the greatest point of totality is reached.

Still, experts say the sight will be worth catching. The moon’s darkened face will have a reddish glow from sunlight passing through dust in Earth’s atmosphere.

A total lunar eclipse occurs when Earth moves between the sun and moon and only happens during a full moon.

Saturday’s eclipse should be bright — perhaps even with an orange or copper color — since the atmosphere is relatively free of volcanic ash that can be darkening.

The time that Denver observers will see the moon partially or totally covered by Earth’s shadow doesn’t last long, said Keith Gleason, manager of the Sommers-Bausch Observatory on the University of Colorado’s Boulder campus.

“It’s a sneaky eclipse,” Gleason said.

The partial eclipse begins at 5:46 a.m. MST with the total eclipse beginning at 7:06 a.m. Unfortunately, the sun rises at 7:10 a.m. and the moon sets two minutes later.

“The ‘bite’ will get bigger and bigger, and the moon gets lower and lower and the sky gets brighter and brighter,” Gleason said.

With the moon setting behind the Rocky Mountains, metro area residents probably will get a view of the darkened moon until 6:48 “and then it will be gone,” Gleason said.

For those on the West Coast and across the Pacific Ocean to Australia and Asia, the eclipse continues, with the moon sliding out of Earth’s shadow about two hours later.

People living to the east will only see a partial eclipse.

While Denver is shorted a bit on Saturday’s eclipse, the clockwork of the universe makes up for it in 2014. Two total lunar eclipses will be visible from Denver on April 15 and Oct. 8.

Another two total eclipses will come in 2015. Gleason said being able to see two total eclipses from the same locale in a year is fairly rare, and the back-to-back years of two eclipses are even rarer.

Ann Schrader: 303-954-1967 or aschrader@denverpost.com.