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Want to see a bite taken out of the moon? You can tonight

A lunar eclipse will take place tonight, so you’re advised to look up between 9 and 10pm.

WANT TO SEE a ‘bite’ being taken out of the moon?

If you look up at the sky tonight, you’ll get to witness a lunar eclipse, where it will appear as though a chunk is being bitten out of the moon.

The eclipse will occur as the moon passes through earth’s shadow, in what is known as a penumbral eclipse. Skywatchers all over the country will be able to see a small “bite” taken out of the edge of the Moon as it rises around 9pm tonight.

Plus, the moon may also appear dimmer than usual.

“Lunar eclipses like the one tonight happen when there’s a full moon and when the moon is inside earth’s shadow,” explained David Moore, editor of Astronomy Ireland magazine.

We want everyone to go outside tonight from 9pm to 10pm to watch the eclipse, and then let us know what they see!

He explained that the ancient Egyptians saw the eclipse “as a sow swallowing the Moon for a short time”, while the animal became a jaguar in Mayan tradition, or a three legged toad in China.

Some societies thought it was a demon swallowing the Moon, and that they could chase it away by throwing stones and curses at it.

Astronomy Ireland has set up a webpage detailing what will happen during the course of this evening’s eclipse, which can be visited at www.astronomy.ie.

Read: Lunar eclipse visible from Ireland tonight>

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26 Comments
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    Mute Carlos Bandanas
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    Apr 25th 2013, 12:00 PM

    Luis suarez up to his old tricks again?

    174
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    Mute Marshmallow O Brien
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    Apr 25th 2013, 12:31 PM

    His teeth are big enough for the job anyway,,,,,

    40
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    Mute murphy 11
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    Apr 25th 2013, 1:04 PM

    Pity this isn’t happening on Sunday night when the voice is on. Sitting out in the garden for 2 hours staring at the sky would be a billion times more entertaining!

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    Mute ♡paulie♡
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    Apr 25th 2013, 1:25 PM

    Have you tried not watching The Voice?

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    Mute Bo11ocks_to_this
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    Apr 25th 2013, 11:51 AM

    Assuming its not raining & no cloud cover!

    :(

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    Mute Carcu Sidub
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    Apr 25th 2013, 11:57 AM

    and you can be bothered to get off the sofa.

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    Mute Who's Yer Man
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    Apr 25th 2013, 11:55 AM

    There always seems to be a sky watching related story when there is no chance of seeing it. #astronomy #conspiracy

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    Mute David Keogh
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    Apr 25th 2013, 12:24 PM

    #thisisn’ttwitter

    70
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    Mute Stephen Faughnan
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    Apr 25th 2013, 12:31 PM

    Agreed. What is it with people using hash tags on this site.Bewildering.

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    Mute Bo11ocks_to_this
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    Apr 25th 2013, 12:33 PM

    #confused.com ?

    28
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    Mute Little Jim
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    Apr 25th 2013, 12:58 PM

    *don’t moan, it’s just for fun*

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    Mute Graham Kiely
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    Apr 25th 2013, 12:34 PM

    Eclipse tax anyone ? :)

    27
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    Mute Matt Byrne
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    Apr 25th 2013, 12:42 PM

    hahhaa!! would not surprise me!

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    Mute Jamie McCormack
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    Apr 25th 2013, 2:40 PM

    I think throwing sticks and curses at it is the best way to go..

    23
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    Mute Eoin Moore
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    Apr 25th 2013, 12:44 PM

    Tin-foil hats all round!!!

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    Mute Eoin Moore
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    Apr 25th 2013, 12:44 PM

    Its the Aliens!!!!!!

    5
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    Mute Little Jim
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    Apr 25th 2013, 1:00 PM

    Nah, they’re on mars drawing penises with their new toy.

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    Mute Martin Gregory
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    Apr 25th 2013, 1:02 PM
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    Mute William Furlong
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    Apr 25th 2013, 9:48 PM

    Perfect full moon here with no bite out of it!!! :)

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    Mute TheDublinGirly
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    Apr 25th 2013, 10:07 PM

    Ditto – looks lovely and bright in Dublin – still no bite! Its now 10pm – is it too late?

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    Mute Jenny Conroy
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    Apr 25th 2013, 11:06 PM

    I saw it all at about 9.05pm! Not terribly exciting but pretty all the same!

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    Mute Eileen Beattie
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    Apr 25th 2013, 9:39 PM

    Beautiful night here. Perfect for viewing. Thanks Aoife :)

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    Mute Paddy Murphy
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    Apr 25th 2013, 10:16 PM

    If you look at it right now, close one eye, stare at it for a bit you’ll notice your nostril

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    Mute Niamh Mangan
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    Apr 25th 2013, 10:06 PM

    Nothing happened!!

    2
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    Mute Poppy
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    Apr 25th 2013, 11:00 PM

    Watching all night & I’ve seen no change either :-(

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    Mute Kevin Barrett
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    Apr 25th 2013, 6:38 PM

    Cheese

    2
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