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Clear skies are forecast for the Chinese capital, among a number
of locations in the country and on the Pacific Rim that will
witness a total lunar eclipse.
The eclipse will coincide with a so-called blue moon - or the
second full moon in a calendar month - and a super moon, when
the moon is at, or near, its closest to Earth.
The moon will start entering the darkest part of Earth's shadow,
or the umbra, at 1148 GMT, with totality expected at 1251 GMT.
The moon will fully emerge from Earth's shadow at 1512 GMT.
The entire passage will take more than three hours, during which
the moon will turn a coppery red as sunlight going through
Earth's atmosphere bounces off its surface.
Skywatchers across western North America set their alarms to
wake before dawn on Wednesday, with hundreds expected to view
the phenomenon from a Los Angeles mountaintop..
The rare eclipse was also expected to be visible in other parts
of Asia, including Australia, Japan and Southeast Asia.
At the Beijing Planetarium, about 800 people are expected to
observe the event over the eastern horizon.
The "lunar trifecta", as it is described by NASA, last took
place in the Western hemisphere on March 31, 1866, when the
second dome of the United States Capitol had just been completed
and H.G. Wells, author of "The Time Machine", was born.
Further south, the Hong Kong Space Museum has organized a "Night
of Total Lunar Eclipse", though skywatchers may be disappointed
due to cloudy weather.
Likewise in Shanghai, expected haze and smog will likely obscure
the moon.
(Reporting by Ryan Woo; Editing by Darren Schuettler)
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