Lunar Eclipse will be visible from UK tonight

While Halloweekend gets underway, there's set to be some great sights tonight (28 October) in the UK.

And no, I’m not just talking about people wandering around the streets dressed as Barbie or the Men in Black swigging tinnies on the way to a night out. But actual sights in the sky.

As spooky events and happenings take place on this planet we call home, something spooky looking will also take place up above.

A lunar eclipse will be visible over the UK and Europe tonight – pretty perfect timing for Halloween if you ask me.

So, now for a little science.

An eclipse of the moon happens when Earth lies directly between the Sun and the Moon, with the moon lying in our shadow.

During a total lunar eclipse, Royal Museums Greenwich say the Moon turns a ‘deep, dark red because it is illuminated by light that has passed through the Earth’s atmosphere and has been bent back towards the Moon by refraction’.

But we won’t see this for quite some time, and there hasn’t been a total lunar eclipse in the UK since May 2022.

Giovanni Bortolani/Getty Images

A total lunar eclipse happens at least every two to three years.

And tonight, we’ll have a partial lunar eclipse instead.

This is when part of the Moon travels through the Earth’s full ‘umbral’ shadow.

Royal Museums Greenwich explain: “On this occasion only a very small section of the Moon will be covered by the umbra at maximum eclipse, though the whole northern half of the Moon will be darkened by the penumbral shadow.”

Tonight’s partial lunar eclipse is set to be visible throughout all of Europe, Africa, Asia and western Australia.

It will begin at 8:35pm and end at 9:52pm.

Apostoli Rossella/Getty Images

It’s said we’ll only see a small fraction of the full moon pass into the umbra from the UK.

The maximum will occur at 9:15pm, with just 12 percent of the moon in the Earth’s shadow and six percent in the umbra.

In case you were also wondering, the umbra is a zone of shadow where the Sun is completely hidden by Earth.

Astronomer Tom Kerss advises using the longest lens of camera you have to be able to zoom in to get a snap of the details on the surface.

BBC Sky at Night Magazine also say that if you look below and to the left of the Moon during the partial lunar eclipse, then you should also see Jupiter.

Something to look out for tonight, whether you’re getting spooky or not.

Topics: Space, UK News, World News, Science

Jess Battison

Jess is an Entertainment Journalist with a love of all things pop culture. Her main interests include keeping up with the Twitter girlies, waiting for a new series of The Traitors and losing her voice at a Beyoncé concert. She graduated with a first in Journalism from City, University of London in 2021 and has previously worked at MyLondon.

@jessbattison_