Earthly onlookers can witness a partial lunar eclipse tonight at 7:50 p.m. EDT.
The phenomenon will be hard to notice with the naked eye, but it may "appear to get a tiny bite taken out of it," National Geographic reported.
Tonight's full moon is known as Hunter's Moon will have a subtle shadow pass over its "outer limb" as Earth's shadow makes its mark.
An internet celestial-tracking service called SLOOH will allow the public to enjoy an easier-to-see live view of the eclipse, formally called a penumbral eclipse.
"Penumbral lunar eclipses are the most subtle of all eclipses, but SLOOH can use techniques to bring out the shadow and reveal that something is indeed happening," said Bob Berman, an astronomer and columnist with Astronomy Magazine, said, National Geographic reported. "Eclipses have always caught the fancy of the public ... They inspire fear, awe, superstition, you name it."
The event will be visible across South America, North America, Europe, and Africa on Oct. 18. Those living in Asia will witness it on Oct. 19.
People who are either farthest East or North will have the best eclipse views, but the event will be easier to see in a photograph than with the eye, Discovery News reported.
In North America, the eclipse will be most visible on the lower right hand corner of the moon.
In Africa, Europe, and western Asia the eclipse will occur when the moon is at its highest point in the sky (unlike in the U.S. where it will occur at moonrise), this will make for a "slight reddish dimming of the normally bright full moon," Discovery News reported.
A lunar eclipse takes place when the Earth, Sun, and of course moon, align perfectly. During a total lunar eclipse the normally bright moon is completely blackened by Earth's shadow. In partial eclipses like tonight's penumbral eclipse, only a section of the moon will get slightly darker or turn red, National Geographic reported.
"This is an eclipse where the circumstances place the moon only inside of the very light outer shadow of the Earth called the penumbra, rather than the darker inner shadow known as the umbra," said Larry Ciupik, an astronomer at Adler Planetarium, said, National Geographic reported.
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