New Year's Eve lunar eclipse a first in 350 years
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THE heavens will feature a rare celestial treat tonight with the first lunar eclipse on New Year's Eve in more than 350 years.
The last eclipse of the moon on New Year's Eve was in 1656 and the next one isn't expected for another 200 years, said David Moore of Astronomy Ireland.
"By my calculations, eclipses of the Moon only happen on New Year's Eve every 200 years on average and it has been 353 years since the last one visible from Ireland, so this is an extremely rare event that no one should miss," he said.
Stargazers hoping to get a rare glimpse of what looks like a bite taken out of the moon should look to the sky between 7pm and 8pm tonight. The most dramatic sighting is expected at 7.22pm, Mr Moore said.
"This one will be immediately obvious," he said. "This eclipse of the moon is partial so only 8pc of the moon will actually be covered by Earth's shadow.
"Still, this will look very spectacular to the naked eye, with half the moon 'discoloured' due to it being so close to the deep shadow of the Earth."
The full moon will be high in the east at 7pm and a big black "bite" will be seen at its lower edge as the minutes pass, with the deepest eclipse taking place at 7.22pm before it returns to normal by about 8pm.
Despite forecasts of wintry showers in the north, east and northwest this evening, he said people shouldn't let the possibility of cloud cover discourage them from looking outside.
- Allison Bray
Irish Independent
