Total Lunar Eclipse from March 2025 (Photo By Marcus Humberg – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=161997046)

Dear Readers, today (Sunday 7th) a total lunar eclipse will be visible across Europe, Africa, Asia and Oceania (sorry, North and South American readers) – for those of us in the UK (and the rest of Europe) the eclipse will be visible when the moon is rising. According to the BBC website, totality (when the moon is completely blocked from the sun’s rays by the shadow of the earth) occurs at 7.11 p.m. UK time, but we won’t be able to see it until it rises above the horizon at 7.33 p.m. It will be quite low down in the eastern sky – advice is to find a clear view of the horizon, which may involve getting up high if possible. However, while the moon only looks red at totality (it’s sometimes called a ‘blood moon’ because the blue light from the sun is scattered by the earth’s shadow, leaving just the red light) it will still look pretty strange until about 10 o’clock. Let’s hope for clear skies for at least some of us. Apparently it should be pretty splendid  in the South West (hello, Cornish friends!) and the East of England, but the weather forecast looks pretty good for East Finchley as well, so fingers crossed!

Lunar Eclipse Sequence (Photo by By pedrik – Lunar eclipse sequence, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=43795378)

This is not my first rodeo when it comes to lunar eclipses – there was one when I used to live in a flat in Islington that was only visible when I hung out of the second floor window. Unlike solar eclipses, lunar eclipses are not actually that rare (the next one will be on March 3rd 2026, so chin up if you miss this one!) but they are always a reminder, for me at least, that the engine of the universe continues in spite of all our troubles and worries, and somehow that is quite reassuring.

Fingers crossed that some of us, at least, will be able to see it! Let us all know!