Irish stargazers are in for a treat next week as the total lunar eclipse will be visible across the country.
According to Astronomy Ireland, early in the morning on May 16, ”Ireland will see a total eclipse of the Moon just as the Sun is rising and the Moon is setting.”
A lunar eclipse occurs when the Sun, Earth, and the Moon are aligned with the Earth in the middle.
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When they are exactly in line with one another, the Moon is entirely within the Earth's shadow- resulting in the total darkening of the Moon's surface and is called a total lunar eclipse.
Experts explained that it is rare as the Moon has to be a ‘Full Moon’ when a lunar eclipse occurs and is then known as a SuperMoon, “which is a Full Moon that occurs close to the time the Moon is near its closest point to the Earth (perigee, which occurs 40 hours after this Full Moon.)”
Anyone who has the time to check it out will see the Moon turn a deep blood red colour during the eclipse.
The experts at Astronomy Ireland said: “This Lunar Eclipse will be visible from Ireland and Astronomy Ireland invites everyone to go outdoors and take a look as the Moon disappears into the Earth's shadow in a very rare spectacle of nature.”
"Everyone should watch as the Moon goes down in the West and dawn begins to break," says David Moore, Editor of Astronomy Ireland magazine.
The ‘maximum eclipse’ will begin at 4:29 am, will be fully visible from 5:11 am in Ireland, and will end at around 5:53 am, according to timeanddate.com.
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