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Irish Mirror
Irish Mirror
National
Clare McCarthy

Lunar eclipse to be visible in Ireland this month as moon to turn 'deep blood red'

Irish stargazers will be able to witness a 'blood Moon total lunar eclipse' as the sun rises on a particular day this month.

According to Astronomy Ireland, the total eclipse will happen early in the morning, just before dawn on Monday, May 16, just as the Sun is rising and the Moon is setting.

And as part of this extremely rare spectacle of nature, the Moon will turn a deep blood red colour in the sky.

David Moore, Editor of Astronomy Ireland magazine advised people exactly when to look up to the Irish sky, saying: "Everyone should watch as the Moon goes down in the West and dawn begins to break."

According to timeanddate.com, the total eclipse will be visible from Dublin between 4.29am and 5.11am on the morning of May 16.

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It will also be visible from across North and South America, plus parts of Europe and Africa.

A lunar eclipse occurs when the Sun, Earth and the Moon are aligned with the Earth in the middle.

When they are aligned exactly, the Moon is entirely within the Earth's shadow. This results in total darkening of the Moon's surface and is called a total lunar eclipse.

The phenomenon of the Moon appearing a red colour during the eclipse is caused by Earth completely blocking direct sunlight from reaching the Moon.

The Moon has to be a Full Moon when a lunar eclipse occurs. This Full Moon is actually a SuperMoon, which is a Full Moon that occurs close to the time the Moon is near its closest point to the Earth.

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