00:00Lucky sky watchers across several continents are getting ready for Tuesday's total lunar
00:06eclipse.
00:07During the astronomical event, the moon turns dark red or orange, known as a blood moon.
00:14The eclipse will be seen in much of the Americas, Australia and Eastern Asia.
00:21The one seen here is from September, when it was visible across the Middle East.
00:25So a lunar eclipse is a phenomenon we get when we have a specific alignment of the Sun, Earth and
00:33Moon system.
00:34A lunar eclipse happens where you've got the Earth in between the Moon and the Sun.
00:41So you've got the Sun on one side, the Earth in the middle, the Moon on the complete opposite side.
00:45Now you would expect in this kind of alignment, what scientists called a syzygy, so a straight line configuration,
00:53the Moon isn't actually getting any light from the Sun because the Earth is right between it, blocking that direct
00:59light.
01:00But because the Earth has an atmosphere, what happens is sunlight sort of gets bent or refracted by the atmosphere
01:06of the Earth.
01:07Partial stages of the eclipse with small bites taken out of the Moon will be visible from Central Asia and
01:13much of South America.
01:15People in Africa, Europe and West Asia will have to wait for the next lunar eclipse in August.
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