Next week's total lunar eclipse will be last until 2025
Callum Jones
Featured Image Credit: blickwinkel / Steven H Jones / Alamy Stock Photo
Next week, four continents will have the chance to catch a total lunar eclipse - and it will be the last one for a while.
People in North and Central America, Asia, Australia, the Pacific Islands and parts of South America will have the chance to see the eclipse next Tuesday (8 November).
Sadly, it will be the last total lunar eclipse for three years, with the next one set to take place on 14 March 2025, according to NASA.
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The eclipse will occur with the moon set to turn blood red as it slips back into Earth's shadow - but what is the exact science behind the lunar eclipse?
A lunar eclipse occurs when the Earth, moon and sun are aligned, with the moon passing into the Earth's shadow.
Total lunar eclipses are sometimes known as blood moons because of the red colour the eclipse gives off.
This is caused by the Earth's atmosphere scattering light from the sun and projecting it onto the moon - which gives the cool effect we see during an eclipse.
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The best part of a lunar eclipse is arguably the totality - which is the stage where the moon is entirely in the Earth's shadow.
This part of the eclipse will be visible from North and Central America, in Ecuador, Colombia, and western parts of Venezuela and Peru.
However, in Puerto Rico, the moon will set just after the totality begins, but people in Alaska and Hawaii will be lucky enough to see every stage of the eclipse.
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NASA has released a handy guide on what times you can expect to see each stage of the eclipse next week.
At 8.02 GMT / 3.02am EST / 12.02am PST the Penumbral eclipse will begin when the moon starts to enters the Earth’s penumbra, the outer part of the shadow - though the effect is quite subtle at this point.
Just over an hour later, the partial eclipse will begin when the moon begins to enter Earth’s umbra - the darker part of its shadow.
At 10.17 GMT / 5.17am EST / 2.17am PST the main event of the totality begins, lasting for over an hour till 11.42 GMT / 6.42am EST / 3.42am PST.
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At 12.49 GMT and 4.49 PST the whole moon is back in Earth's penumbra, but at this point in the EST time zone, the moon has set so the eclipse can no longer be seen from that region.
Come 13.50 GMT / 5.50am PST, both the partial eclipse and the Penumbral eclipse have ended and that's the last total lunar eclipse for a while.
However, there will be the opportunity to see partial and penumbral lunar eclipses during the prolonged time.