What is an eclipse?
When the Earth, moon and sun are all perfectly aligned, observers on Earth may be able to witness an eclipse. There are two main types of eclipses; lunar eclipses and solar eclipses.
A lunar eclipse occurs when the Earth lies between the sun and the Moon, and the Earth's shadow falls on the Moon. Anyone on the side of the Earth that faces the Moon at that time can see such an eclipse. If only the outer part of Earth's shadow croses the Moon, then a partial eclipse is seen; if the central part of the shadow covers the Moon, the result is a total eclipse.
A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon lies between the sun and the Earth, and blocks the view of the sun. If the Moon only partially blocks the sun then this causes a partial eclipse; if the Moon completely coves the sun, the result is a total eclipse.
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So what is going to happen?
The last Lunar eclipse visible from the UK took place on the evening of Wednesday, June 15.
Unfortunately we were clouded out - the weather can't be guarranteed in June in the UK!
When is the next eclipse?
There will be a total eclipse of the Moon on December 10, 2011, but unfortunately most of the eclipse will be over when the Moon rises at 15:55. When the Umbral phase ends at 16:18, the Moon will only be 2º 43' above the horizon.
There will be some Penumbral eclipses after that, but as the Moon will not pass through the main part of the Earth's shadow, there is not much to see, and if you didn't know that an eclipse was taking place you would not be aware of it.
So we will have to wait for a decent lunar eclipse until the early morning of September 28, 2015.
| 01:12 |
The eclipse begins as the Moon begins to enter the outer part of the Earth's shadow - the Penumbra. |
| 02:07 |
The Moon begins to enter the inner part of the Earth's shadow - the Umbra. |
| 03:11 |
Totality. The Moon is completely covered by the Umbra. |
| 03:47 |
Mid-eclipse. Although it will be a Full Moon, in a similar way to the Sun appearing reddish when it sets, sunlight passing through the Earth's atmosphere and falling on the Moon can result in it appearing a dull orange or coppery colour. |
| 04:23 |
Totality ends as the Moon begins to exit the Umbra. |
| 05:27 |
The Moon is completelyclear of the Umbra, and the eclipse ends when it is clear of the Penumbra at 06:22. |
Times are BST
The next good lunar eclipses after that are on July 27, 2018 and January 21, 2019.
The next major astronomical event visible from the UK will be the Transit of Venus on June 6, 2012, though we shall only catch the last 50 minutes after the Sun rises at 04:50.
There is also a Transit of Mercury on May 9, 2016. This is visible in the UK from start to finish, though we will only see the first 2/3 of the transit that takes place on November 11, 2019.
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