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PARIS : The Moon will fall into the Earth's deep shadow on Tuesday, taking on a lustrous red or orange hue during the second total eclipse of 2007.
Star gazers in east Asia and across the Americas will be able to watch as our planet's natural satellite is consumed by celestial dragons, as the Chinese once thought.
And night owls in the Pacific basin, from eastern Australia to the west coast of the north America, will be treated to the full eclipse at 10:37GMT, corresponding to early evening in Sydney and a couple hours before sunrise in Los Angeles and Vancouver.
The perfect spot for spectators will be French Polynesia, according to NASA, but the eclipse will not be visible at all in Europe or Africa.
The Moon does not disappear from view during a full eclipse, but is shielded by Earth for about 90 minutes from the Sun's direct light.
The longest possible duration for the total phase is 107 minutes, and last occurred in July 2000.
A total eclipse can only take place at full Moon, and only if the Moon passes through the zone, called the umbra, in which the Earth blocks all of the Sun's rays.
The colour cast by refracted light - which can range from bright orange to blood red to copper to dark gray - depends on the amount of volcanic gas and dust in the atmosphere blocking the Sun's light.
In the absence of recent eruptions, the Moon should be a vivid red or orange, according to NASA.
Total lunar eclipses normally occur roughly every couple of years, but this year there will have been two, the other having taken place on March 3.
The next chance to see the Moon slip entirely into terrestrial shadows will be on February 21, 2008, but after that the wait is longer: December 2010.
Further details on these eclipses and information on eclipses in general can be found on the NASA website. - AFP/ch
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