月全蝕

A rare total lunar eclipse will turn the moon red in the early hours of the morning.

The total eclipse will be visible between 3.01am and 3.52am, with the partial eclipse beginning at 1.43am and finishing at 5.09am.

A total eclipse occurs when the full Moon moves into the Earth's shadow and although it becomes dimmed, it can still be seen because it is lit by the sunlight passing through the Earth's atmosphere.

Stronger atmospheric scattering of blue light means that the light that reaches the lunar surface is predominantly red in colour.

That means observers see a Moon that may be brick-coloured, rusty, blood-red or dark grey, depending on terrestrial conditions on the night.

Dr Robert Massey at the Royal Astronomical Society (RAS) said: "As astronomers, we like to draw attention to lunar eclipses because they are extremely beautiful and very rare.

"In fact, the next time we will see a lunar eclipse in the UK will be 2015. [引用來源]