On Sunday, you will have a unique opportunity to observe a celestial event in the sky with the naked eye, which may also be a total lunar eclipse.
The phenomenon is witnessed when the sun, Earth, and moon are in a straight line. When the moon crosses into the darkest shade of the shadow cast by the Earth – a dark red known as the umbra – it gives it a dark red hue, a process known as a blood moon.
A Lunar Eclipse do not necessarily become a total one, and as a UK viewer, a total eclipse has not been seen since 2022 and will not be seen again until August 2026.
When is the blood moon?
The moon will start to eclipse before the UK has it on its horizon. It follows that when it rises, it will already be quite in the eclipse. According to the Royal Observatory, the time when the blood moon is best spotted is 7:33 pm Sunday.
It is going to gradually creep out of the shadow of the Earth until 9:55 pm, and that will allow those watching the stars in the UK to be able to view the eclipse to the tune of two hours and two minutes.
People are being urged to go to the top of a hill or any high place in the urban areas in order to see the moon better, since the moon will be low on the horizon.
The Met Office suggests that it will be clear all the way up to night over much of England and Wales, thus will have no problems viewing.
However, the weather forecaster said visibility will be worse in some areas of northern England and Scotland because they are likely to retain cloudy skies and spurts of heavy rain into the evening and night.
The moon will lift itself over the UK at just the right moment when people can view the tail end of the eclipse, according to the words of Dr Ed Bloomer, an astronomer at the Royal Observatory Greenwich.
“The moon is pretty unmistakable in the sky, so the most important thing is to face the right direction,” Dr Bloomer said.
“It’ll be rising towards the east and head southwards over the course of the night.
“As it rises, the most important thing will be whatever is low on your horizon. A flat landscape, or an elevated position, makes for the best visibility – literally so there aren’t things like buildings, trees, or other things in the way.
“A lunar eclipse like this is a great opportunity for observing with kids, too. It isn’t too late for us in the UK, the target is nice and easy, and minute you will notice changes (Good for short attention spans).”