The moon will flip crimson within the evening sky quickly in an occasion referred to as a blood moon.
The phenomenon solely occurs a handful of instances a yr, and 14 March is your subsequent likelihood to identify one within the UK.
A blood moon is a full lunar eclipse, occurring when the Earth passes between the moon and the solar.
From the UK, solely a partial lunar eclipse might be seen, which means solely a part of the moon will seem crimson.
However when is it, what precisely will you see, and what causes it? This is the whole lot it’s good to know.
When is the blood moon?
Those that need to see it should get away from bed early on Friday 14 March.
That is as a result of the eclipse will begin to be seen at 3.57am, turning into notably noticeable at 5.09am, based on the Royal Observatory Greenwich.
It says the utmost of the eclipse in London might be at 6.19am.
A full lunar eclipse seen over Hamburg, Germany in 2023. Pic: Marcus Brandt/picture-alliance/dpa/AP
The total lunar eclipse might be at 6.58am UK time. However that may solely be seen to folks in North and South America, as a result of within the UK the moon will have already got set under the horizon.
What’s going to you see?
At 3.57am, the moon will transfer into the Earth’s penumbra – the lighter a part of its shadow – making components of it seem darkish, explains Imo Bell, astronomy training assistant on the Observatory.
Partial lunar eclipse seen in Liverpool final yr. Pic: PA
Then at 5.09am, the a part of the moon in shadow will flip reddish because the moon strikes into the darker a part of Earth’s shadow, referred to as the umbra.
How can I see it clearly?
The phenomenon might be clear with the bare eye, climate allowing.
You can provide your self the absolute best likelihood of a very good shot by getting a transparent view of the western horizon from 5.09am, Bell says.
This may mean you can see the Earth’s shadow progressively cowl the moon whereas it strikes in direction of the horizon, earlier than it units after 6.19am.
“Wales, Northern Eire, Cornwall and western components of Scotland might be beneficial since you need to delay the moon sinking under the horizon for so long as potential, so the extra west, the higher,” provides Bell, who describes their first blood moon expertise, in 2008, as “magical”.
“My dad used mugs to elucidate how the solar, Earth, and moon would type an ideal line after which allow us to keep up well past bedtime to go out into the chilly to observe the moon flip crimson,” Bell says.
A partial lunar eclipse is seen above Tynemouth Priory in 2019. Pic: PA
What causes a blood moon?
It’s brought on by the Earth passing between the moon and the solar, referred to as a lunar eclipse.
Throughout a complete lunar eclipse, the Earth utterly stops daylight from instantly hitting the moon because the solar and the Earth completely align with it.
Solely gentle that’s refracted by way of Earth’s environment manages to succeed in the moon, with the whole lot exterior of the crimson wavelengths being scattered, leaving the moon trying blood crimson.
“That is as a result of scattering of bluer hues within the solar’s gentle by way of our environment, leaving solely oranges and reds to succeed in the moon – the identical cause we get reddish sunrises and sunsets,” Bell explains.
The UK is simply catching a partial lunar eclipse, as a result of the moon will solely be seen whereas the solar, Earth and moon are virtually aligned, slightly than totally.
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How typically is there a lunar eclipse – and when is the subsequent one?
Due to the way in which the moon orbits the Earth, and since the Earth orbits the solar, there are all the time between two and 5 a yr seen from someplace on our planet, based on the Observatory.
This would possibly make you surprise why there aren’t lunar eclipses each month because the moon orbits Earth.
It is as a result of the moon’s path is tilted in comparison with Earth’s orbit across the solar, transferring up and down because it goes. This implies it does not all the time get in Earth’s shadow.
There might be a possibility to see a complete lunar eclipse within the UK on 7 September – although the view is predicted to be difficult as a result of how low the moon might be on the horizon. There might be extra info on that nearer the time.
Within the meantime, we hope you get a very good view on 14 March.
