HERE is the weekly Skywatch column written by Stuart Atkinson.

There's good news, bad news and even worse news this week.

The good news is that we have a total eclipse of the Moon coming up next week.

The bad news is that if you want to see it you'll either have to stay up all night or get up very early, because it's happening in the hours before sunrise.

And the even worse news?

The Moon will set before the end of the eclipse, so we'll only see the first half.

But let's be positive.

What's actually going to happen and what will we see?

Early on the morning of Monday May 16th the Moon will pass through the Earth's shadow and its usually silvery blue face will turn darker in the sky.

When this happens in winter, high in a dark sky, the Moon turns a very striking burnt orange or even blood red hue, but this eclipse will happen as the sky is brightening before sunrise, when the Moon is low in the sky, so we won't see such a distinctive colour.

But it will still be amazing - and weird! - to see a totally eclipsed Moon setting.

The eclipse will begin at 03:30 when the Moon starts to go dark from the left hand side.

As time passes the Earth's shadow will slowly cover more and more of the Moon until the Moon is half-covered at around 04:00.

The eclipse will be total at 04:30, but by then the Moon will be quite low in the west so if you have any trees, buildings or hills in that direction it might be hidden from view.

The fully eclipsed Moon will set not long after 05:00.

Unlike a solar eclipse you won't need special safety filters to view this lunar eclipse; it will be obvious and safe to the naked eye. But if you have a pair of binoculars handy they'll show you the eclipsed Moon's colours much better.