There will be a partial lunar eclipse on Tuesday night along with a supermoon full Moon that will be visible over much of the planet.
The partial lunar eclipse, in which the Earth's shadow appears on the Moon's surface, will be visible to anybody in Europe, Africa, North and South America with clear skies. When sunlight travels through Earth's atmosphere and reaches the Moon, the sky will also change color.
The Moon will begin to pass into Earth’s partial shadow at 1:41am BST on Wednesday morning (8:41pm EDT on Tuesday), before entering the full shadow at 3:13am BST (10:13pm EDT). The maximum point of the eclipse will take place at 3:44am BST (10:44pm EDT), with the celestial event coming to an end at 5:47am BST (12:47am EDT), lasting just over four hours.
For anyone not beneath the path of the partial lunar eclipse, or living in an area without clear skies, then a live stream will be available to watch online for free from various observatories, as well as Time and Date’s YouTube channel.
The imperfect alignment of the Sun, Earth and Moon will see just 3.5 per cent of the lunar surface in complete shadow, with the rest of the Moon darkening and changing colour.
The Moon will also appear bigger and brighter than usual, as it nears its closest approach to Earth.
“The term ‘supermoon’ was coined by astrologer Richard Nolle in 1979 as either a new or full Moon that occurs when the Moon is within 90 per cent of its closest to Earth,” Nasa notes on its website.
“Since we can’t see new Moons, what has the public’s attention are full supermoons, the biggest and brightest Moons of the year. Although different publications use different thresholds for deciding which full Moons qualify, most agree this will be the second of four consecutive supermoons, effectively tied with the full Moon in October for the closest of the year.”