Vietnam to witness 'blood moon' on October 8

 A lunar eclipse unfolds over Southern California, April 15, 2014. This blood moon is the first of four lunar eclipses in 2014 and 2015. Photo: Joe Klamar/AFP/Getty

If you’re in Vietnam, pick a clear site and get your binoculars ready for Wednesday's total lunar eclipse.

Dang Vu Tuan Son, chairman of Vietnam's amateur astronomy club, told Vietnam News Agency that the eclipse will start at 3:15pm Hanoi time, peak at 5:54pm and become a partial eclipse and end at 8:34pm.

People on Vietnam can observe the eclipse starting at around 5:25pm, Son said.

Total lunar eclipse, also known as Blood Moon due to its crimson hue, occurs during a full moon when the Sun, Earth, and Moon are aligned, with the Earth in the middle.

The phenomenon can be viewed anywhere from the side of the Earth experiencing night.

The October 8 eclipse is the second of the two total lunar eclipses this year (the other on April 15) and of a lunar tetrad which is a sequence of four consecutive total lunar eclipses spaced six months apart.

Two other eclipses will occur on April 4 and September 28 next year, with the former visible from Vietnam.

Hoang Quoc Phuong, website administrator of the Hanoi Amateur Club of Astronomy, told Vietnam News Agency that the most recent lunar eclipse that could be viewed from Vietnam occurred on December 10, 2011.

There have been six other lunar eclipses since but they were either partial which were hard to view because they occurred during the day, Phuong said.

Interested people should choose a clear view toward the East and use binoculars or telescopes to enhance the view, although their own eyes alone are enough, experts suggest.

(http://www.thanhniennews.com/education-youth/vietnam-to-witness-blood-moon-on-october-8-32010.html)