Lunar Eclipse Tonight

An image of the lunar eclipse of June 2011

Today, the moon will rise over Ireland with a "bite" taken out of it as we are treated to a partial lunar eclipse (at least the tail-end of it anyway).

Astronomy Ireland say people can expect to see "a slight darkened edge of the moon" and not the total eclipse that will be viewable in other parts of the world.

China, Japan, Australia, Eastern Russia and the western states of the USA will see a full lunar eclipse while Europe, Africa and the Eastern US states will see a partial eclipse.

The partial eclipse should be visible just as the moon rises, around 4pm in Ireland.

Last lunar eclipse for 4 years

The last lunar eclipse viewable from Ireland for over 4 years will take place on Wednesday.

The moon will rise tonight fully eclipsed by the Earth's shadow. As the moon rises over the eastern horizon, Astronomy Ireland say that those watching in the east of the country will see the moon rise covered in a deep red colour.

Observers in the west will see most of the moon obscured by the Earth's shadow.

"The Moon gets darker and darker, and almost completely blacked out. But instead of turning black it begins to glow an eerie red colour. This is due to red light curving through Earth's atmosphere - like a sunset - and shining on the Moon. All other colours don't curve in the same way, so only red is seen."

The eclipse will begin at 10pm and last until around midnight. Total eclipse will be visible just after 10pm.

More on the eclipse from Blackrock Castle Observatory.

Number of the Week: 600 million metric tonnes

The estimated amount of water ice located near the Moon's north pole. The ice was spotted by the American LCROSS satellite aboard the Indian lunar spacecraft Chandrayaan-1. The results of the Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite suggests that "a sustainable human presence on the Moon is possible" according to Paul Spudis from the Lunar and Planetary Institute in Houston, Texas. President Barack Obama cancelled the American programme for a return to the moon by 2020 in February of this year.

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LCROSS

Chandrayaan-1