If you’re stoked to try and catch a glimpse of the Super Flower Blood Moon, the only total lunar eclipse of 2021(second of three!), when it occurs Wednesday (May 26), you’re in for something really special, according to NASA.

The total lunar eclipse will begin at 12:47 PM GST and end at 5:50 pm GST with peak totality — the “blood moon” stage — occurring at 3:16 p.m. GST. If it is daytime in your viewing location, you will have to watch webcasts of the eclipse to see it at its best.

The biggest and brightest super-moon of the year will be visible in UAE skies TODAY, while some parts of the world will witness a rare “blood moon” total lunar eclipse. It will appear 10 per cent larger than a regular full moon.

Only people in parts of the US, Australia, South America and eastern Asia will experience the total lunar eclipse, with the Moon taking on a reddish glow.

During a Lunar Eclipse, Earth’s shadow falls across the moon’s face as our planet moves between the moon and the sun. In a total lunar eclipse, the moon gets completely covered by Earth’s shadow as the moon and sun line up on exact opposite sides of our planet.

A visualization map of the 2021 total lunar eclipse. (Image credit: NASA’s Scientific Visualization Studio) So what does it look like and what can skywatchers at home expect?

For one, a lunar eclipse is “weird and it’s beautiful and unusual,” NASA science visualiser Ernie Wright, who takes scientific data to create animations and other visuals to help communicate complex science concepts. “A lunar eclipse is such a spectacular visual event that you get caught up in it. During the partial phases, you see the moon sort of getting slowly eaten away, over the course of maybe an hour, an hour and a half.”

“And then suddenly,” Wright added, “it’s quite a bit darker, but it’s also this deep red colour. And it’s a chance for you to sort of think about your place in the cosmos … spending just a little bit of time thinking about how amazing that is and how cool it is, and you are in a very specific place to be able to see it.”

This full moon was known by early Native American tribes as the ‘Full Flower Moon’.  It was the time of year when spring flowers appeared in abundance.

The upcoming astronomical event will be the second of three super moons to appear in 2021.