Eclipse 2018: Taiwan CELEBRATES rare lunar eclipse as Blood Moon LOOMS

Huge crowds gathered in Taipei, the capital of Taiwan, to view the rare event which sees the Moon turn red.

Some people had binoculars and telescopes to witness the stunning sight.

A total lunar eclipse happens when the Earth, Sun and Moon line up.

The Earth comes between the Sun and the Moon and covers the Moon with its shadow, turning it red.

Tonight’s lunar eclipse is the longest this century, lasting one hour and 43 minutes.

The total eclipse will last 1 hour, 42 minutes and 57 seconds, though a partial eclipse precedes and follows, meaning the moon will spend a total of 3 hours and 54 minutes in the earth’s umbral shadow, according to NASA.

Across the world, from the Taj Mahal to the Eiffel Tower, people will turn their eyes to the sky, hoping to see the blood moon, which appears orange, brown or crimson as sunlight is bent through the earth’s atmosphere.

The fullest eclipse, at 2022 GMT, will be visible from Europe, Russia, Africa, the Middle East, much of Asia and Australia. 

The Blood Moon can be seen in the UK from around 9pm.

Speaking to Sky News, Professor Andrew Coates from UCL said: “It’s the longest one this century, 1 hour and 43 minutes all together.

“In fact, we missed the first part of it because moonrise over the UK is already in progress.

“So it’s already going on, it will already be red when the moon rises at something like 8.50pm to 9.30pm depending on exactly where you are in the UK this evening.

“From London, for example, look at the sky from about 9pm onwards in a south-easterly direction.”

Weather forecasters have warned that bad weather could reduce visibility.

BBC Weather forecaster Carol Kirkwood said: “If you are hoping to see the lunar eclipse tonight, you are going to be lucky because today there’s a fair bit of cloud around and a fair bit of rain as well and some thunderstorms.

“Perhaps the best chance you have is across parts of Oxfordshire and the far north of Scotland.”

Andrew Fabian, professor of astronomy at the University of Cambridge, said: “It’s called a Blood Moon because the light from the Sun goes through the Earth’s atmosphere on its way to the Moon, and the Earth’s atmosphere turns it red in the same way that when the Sun goes down it goes red.”