The two astronomical events will light up the night skies together on Friday, July 27 when the moon will pass through the centre of the Earth’s shadow for the longest lunar eclipse of the century.
At the same time, Mars will hang just below the moon and shine brighter than it ever has in 15 years.
And the good news is you can watch both events at the same time from the comfort of your home, without having to step out into the summer heat.
Courtesy of the Virtual Telescope project, the total lunar eclipse and Mars at opposition will be broadcast live online.
The live stream, which you can find here, will kick off on the night of the eclipse at 7.30pm BST (6.30pm UTC).
The team of astronomers behind the Virtual Telescope will stream the Blood Moon from the Roman Forum on Palatine Hill in Rome, Italy.
In a statement, the Virtual Telescope, said: “The sky never fails amazing us with its shows, but sometimes it really does an extra work to offer something honestly memorable.
“This will happen next July 27, 2018 when we will have a wonderful total lunar eclipse, with the moon showing its amazing red colour and Mars, the Red Planet, will reach its opposition, actually a so-called ‘great opposition’, offering the best observing conditions since 2003.”
The free live stream is being co-organised by the Virtual Telescope with the aid of the Italian Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Activities, the Colosseum Archaeological Park and UNITRONITALIA Instruments.
On the night of the Blood Moon, the Earth’s shadow cast by the sun will paint the July full moon a deep reddish to orange hue.
The effect known as Rayleigh Scattering causes refracted sunlight in the atmosphere to filter out bands of visible colour other than red and orange.
The eclipse will be visible from Central Asia and Eastern Africa with reduced visibility in Europe, Western Africa, South America and parts of Southeast Asia and Australia.
The whole of North America and Central America will miss out on the eclipse but stargazers in affected countries will have a chance to watch the Virtual Telescope live stream.
On the US East Coast, the eclipse live stream will go live at 2.30pm ET or 11.30am on the West Coast.
A total lunar eclipse typically occurs once or twice a year and the next will take place on the night of January 21, 2019.
While the planet Mars will find itself directly opposite the sun on the celestial sphere with the Earth right in the middle of the action.
At the same time Mars is also positioned at its closest orbital point to the planet since 2003, making it easy to spot in the night sky.
This planetary alignment is known as opposition and, according to NASA’s space experts, can occur roughly every 26 months.
An opposition can occur anywhere in the planet’s orbit and when it happens while Mars is at its closest to the sun, the event is known as perihelic opposition.