You might get to see an unusual phenomenon in the sky tonight, as the "Pink Moon" is expected to change color this evening.
Tonight will see the rise of May's full moon, the Flower Moon - which was named by Native American tribes to signify abundance in Spring after a cold winter.
This will be a stunning astronomical event to witness as there will also be a penumbral lunar eclipse. This is when the moon glides into "the faint outer part of [Earth's] shadow," according to NASA.
This only happens when our planet comes between the sun and the moon and they all align in an almost straight line, intercepting the light from reaching the lunar surface. The interesting result of this is to make the Moon appear dimmer.
At this time of year, the moon is also generally referred to as "Milk Moon" or "Corn Planting Moon" - which derives from the blooming plants during early May.
Rather than looking pink, it is set to appear as a beautiful softened orange for about 15 minutes as its rises, then eventually turning yellowy before a luminous grey, as reported by Forbes.
Professor Don Pollacco of the University of Warwick told Daily Mail that spotting the moon's darkening can be quite challenging because of the sun's brightness.
"For a total Lunar eclipse, totality lasts hours. During these eclipses, the Sun does not illuminate the Moon, but instead light from the Sun goes through the Earth's atmosphere and reaches the Lunar surface," he said, per the outlet.
"It is then reflected back to us. So instead of the Moon disappearing, it gets faint and often turns dark red - an impressive sight. Because whole hemispheres can see the eclipse these are much less rare than a Solar Eclipse and usually a typical location can see one of these every year," Pollacco added.
People across large parts of Europe, Africa, Asia, Australia, and even Antarctica will have the opportunity to see the spectacle which will commence tonight.
If you miss out on the event in your region, the Virtual Telescope Project has your back as they will be live streaming for astronomy fanatics everywhere.
You can watch the Eclipse on their website or YouTube channel as the stream will also reveal the moon ascending above the area of Maremma in Tuscany, Italy.
This kind of eclipse occurs between zero and nine times per century on average. The last one took place on March 14, 2006, and the next isn't anticipated until August 29, 2059.
Don't miss it!
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