PLEASE cross your fingers, toes and everything else for a clear sky on Friday evening so we can all enjoy watching the total eclipse of the Moon, writes STUART ATKINSON. If it's cloudy we'll miss one of Nature's most eerie and beautiful sights - the Moon turning a strange shade of orange-red as it slowly moves into and through Earth's shadow.

Unfortunately, watching this particular eclipse is going to be very challenging for us. It begins long before the Moon rises, and the eclipse will be more than halfway through at Moonrise. Because totality will have begun almost an hour before the Moon clears our horizon you'll see the Moon rising totally eclipsed, looking like a tangerine - but 'only' if you're somewhere with a low, clear horizon. If you live in somewhere in a dip in the landscape, like Kendal, or somewhere surrounded by fells, like Grasmere or Windermere, you might miss the total phase of the eclipse altogether because the Moon will only clear your local horizon after totality has ended. So, my advice to all of you reading Skywatch is this: if you possibly can, find somewhere out of town, with a clear view to the south east, and watch the eclipse from there.

What will happen and when? The Moon will rise at around 9.15pm, but with the sky still bright behind it you might struggle to see it at first. Just keep looking for it, using binoculars if you have them. Eventually the Moon will pop into view, an orange-red colour. When totality ends at 10.15pm the Moon will start to brighten on its left side, and by 10.45pm the Moon will be only half eclipsed. It will all be over at 11.25pm.

Between 10pm and 10.15pm look out for a bright red star to the lower right of the fully eclipsed Moon. This will be the planet Mars, at its closest and brightest for 15 years.