(ECNS) -- The first rare total lunar eclipse of 2018 will appear tonight, when most observers in China will be able to see the whole process of "first contact, second contact, third contact and last contact" of a super moon, according to Senior Engineer Kou Wen at the Beijing Planetarium.
The eclipse's beginning, or first contact, will start at 19:48 Beijing Time, the second contact at 20:51 and the last contact at 23:11. The whole process will last 77 minutes.
When the total lunar eclipse occurs, there is theoretically no light, because the Sun cannot shine on the Moon, says Kou Wen. But we can see a light red moon, sometimes a gray or orange one, because of the dense atmosphere around the Earth, through which the sunlight is reflected or scattered and shines on the Moon's surface.
The Beijing Planetarium has sold all 800 available tickets to observe the spectacle.
A total lunar eclipse occurs every one or two years. The second total lunar eclipse in 2018 will occur on July 28.
