A blood moon will be incoming later today, as a set of rare circumstances in space mean a particularly stunning Full Moon is engulfed in red. The annual January Full Moon is a special occurrence known as the ‘Wolf Moon’, named so by native American tribes. Slightly larger than the average Full Moon sighting, the Wolf moon takes place when the Moon is closest to the Earth during its natural orbit. This gives the appearance of a ‘Super Moon’, and this one just happens to coincide with a lunar Eclipse.
Most of the planet will be able to get a stellar view of the Full Moon tonight as it turns blood red.
Only a few countries in far eastern Europe will be unable to see the whole process.
The UK will be lucky to see the whole thing, but sadly for some it won’t be quite as simple as looking into the sky.
People viewing from the UK will be able to see the Moon enter into the beginning stages of its eclipse cycle by 2.35am GMT.
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The full eclipse won’t be visible until 5.12am, when the Blood Moon will be at maximum.
Already, the problem exists of many having to either stay up all night, or getting up incredibly early in the morning.
Coupled with plummeting temperatures, these circumstances will ensure a lot of people won’t get to see the eclipse as it transpires.
Another issue with viewing the Blood moon from the UK, is the problematic January weather.
Most parts of the country are expecting to see overall cloud cover, meaning even if you have the drive to get up early for the spectacle, it may still not be visible.
Thankfully for those in the path of the traditional British overcast, there are other ways to view the eclipse.
READ MORE: What time is the Blood moon in the UK?
How can you watch the Super Blood Wolf Moon?
Where there is visibility in the UK, the Royal Observatory in Greenwich has set out advice for watching the eclipse.
They said: “Those in the UK will be able to see every part of the eclipse as long as they are willing to stay up all night!
“The Moon will start to enter the Earth’s shadow just after 2:30am GMT and the maximum eclipse will occur just before 5:15am.”
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“The optimal viewing time to see the eclipse is between 4:41am – 5:43am. This is the period of totality, where the moon lies entirely in the Earth’s umbra (full shadow) and will appear red.”
For those cursed with thick cloud, there are a few options available, mainly via the internet.
The Greenwich Observatory will be streaming the eclipse via their Royal Museums Greenwich Facebook account from today at 8pm.
In addition to this, website Timeanddate.com has supplied their own live stream for the big day, and will be showing the eclipse as it starts from 3am GMT.