On July 27, the moon will turn red and darken as it passes through the shadow of Earth blocking the sun. Then, it will stay dark longer than it will during any other eclipse that will happen in the 21st century. (Learn more about why this eclipse will be nearly twice as long as the last American lunar eclipse here.)
East Africa, the Middle East and a region of Central Asia stretching as far east as India and as far north as parts of southern Russia should get a spectacular view of the so-called blood moon. Viewers in a somewhat wider chunk of the planet, including both China and South America, might get a glimpse of the eclipse as the moon rises or sets. Unfortunately for billions of people across the rest of the planet, however, their corners of the Earth won't be facing the moon at the time, so they'll miss out on the astronomical event.
But if you're going to be in a part of the world where you won't get a direct view of the eclipse (or if it's cloudy where you are), you do have some options.
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- The Weather Channel has announced that it will host a livestream of the event on its app, available for iOS and Android, beginning at 4 p.m. EDT on July 27.
- The Institute of Astrophysics of the Canary Islands will also livestream its view of the event from its observatory here. (We've embedded that livestream below.)
If neither of those options works for you, or if their views are occluded, we recommend making a friend in the region and having them Skype you in. Unlike the World Cup or the Super Bowl, this event is free to share as widely as you please.
Originally published on Live Science.
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