Rare opportunity to see supermoon eclipse across UK tonight

Stargazers will get a chance to see a rare supermoon eclipse tonight
-Credit: (Image: Daily Mirror)


There will be a rare opportunity to see a supermoon eclipse across the UK tonight. This month's full moon - which is also known as the Harvest moon - is the second of four "supermoons" this year.

They occur when the orbit of the moon is at the closest point to Earth in its orbit - the perigee - which makes the Moon appear brighter and larger in the night sky, reports the BBC. It is expected most areas will get a good view of the celestial event, although there may be some cloud cover developing across eastern Wales and England through the night.

The full harvest supermoon will rise on Tuesday evening at around 7.15pm BST. Then at approximately 1:40am on Wednesday morning, a small shadow created by Earth will appear in the top right corner of the moon as the eclipse starts. The partial eclipse will be at its maximum at 3.44am tomorrow (Wednesday).

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Typically, the moon is 238,900 miles from our planet. This week, however it will be 226,000 miles away, creating a spectacular night sky event. There are an additional two supermoons to look forward to in October and November.

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