STARGAZERS will be setting their alarm clocks on Monday morning to catch a glimpse of a total lunar eclipse.

Commonly known as a Blood Moon, the celestial event will see the moon temporarily change to a reddish colour which should be visible across the north west as long as the cloud cover is not too thick.

The moon will be partially eclipsed between 3.33am and 6.50am and from 4.41am until 5.43am stargazers will be able to see the Supermoon lunar eclipse - called the Wolf Moon.

Anyone who gets up before 7am stands a fighting chance of seeing at least part of the eclipse.

The current forecast is for light cloud so keep your fingers crossed.

What can we expect to see?

University of York expert Dr Emily Brunsden, who hosts the astronomy podcast Syzygy, told our sister title The Press a bit more about it.

Dr Brunsden, who is director of the university's Astrocampus, said: “In the early hours of Monday morning the full moon will be quietly changing. It will slowly be eaten away by shadow, turn a rusty blood red, then calmly grow back to its former self.

“Known as a blood moon, this is a total lunar eclipse.

"The moon moves into the shadow of the earth, which means we see the surface shrink away.

"At maximum eclipse the only light that reaches the surface is that which passes through our atmosphere.

"Our atmosphere scatters blue light making the sky blue so only the red light passes through and lights up the moon, making it appear a rusty red colour.

"I really love eclipses. There is something captivating about being able to see the silent motion of the Moon in real time, reminding us of our dynamic Solar System.

"We usually only get the chance to see one or two per year-special reminders of our place in the Universe.”

What is the best time to look for it?

The eclipse will officially start at 2.36am but the best viewing will start from 3.33 am when the moon will be high in the south west.

The dimming will look a bit like the moon is changing phase from full to crescent shaped over the next hour.

At 4.41am the full eclipse starts and the moon will start to turn red, reaching a maximum at 5.12am.

The redness reduces until 5.43am when the moon starts to leave the shadow and grow from a white crescent back to its full shape, returning to normal at 6.50am.

What are the chances of seeing it?

As with any stargazing the darker the location you are viewing from, the better, but this Moon will be super bright so even those in cities will be able to see the eclipse occur.

Viewing is likely to be easier earlier in the eclipse as from around 5am the Moon will be starting to head lower in the western sky.

If you have a clear view of the south-west horizon this won't be a problem.

When will the next lunar eclipse be?

There won't be another total lunar eclipse visible on earth until May 2021.

What is a Blood Moon?

A Blood Moon is the unscientific name for a total lunar eclipse, which is when Earth passes in between the sun and the moon, casting a shadow over the moon as sunlight is blocked.

During this process, some sunlight is filtered through the Earth’s atmosphere, reflecting onto the moon to give a red appearance.

The term Blood Moon harkens back to a time when people were superstitious about the influence of a lunar eclipse, but also when people had no knowledge of what was going on.

Do you need a telescope to photograph the eclipse?

No a standard DSLR camera should be able to capture decent images.

When was the last Blood Moon?

The last blood moon took place in July 2018 though clouds largely obscured the event.