Blue Moon on New Year's Eve

Blue Moon over a little island in the South China Sea on New Year's Eve: NASA

Also, partial lunar eclipse at New Year: Hong Kong Obervatory

Local weather forecast -- windy, mainly cloudy and misty, with one or two rain patches on New Year's Eve: Hong Kong Observatory

Hong Kong: total eclipse of the Moon

(click on photo to enlarge)

At five am this morning, the now totally uneclipsed full Moon shines silent and bright in the west-northwestern sky. (Mister Bijou currently keeps erratic hours.)

So bright the Moon its brilliance washes out all its own features: no Man in the Moon, no craters nor seas. Instead, a mute white disc shines at the centre of a faint corona. (Sadly, the photo does not do the corona justice.)

Bathed in pure light, some inhabitants of a little island in the South China Sea gear down from the night as others gear up for a new day. Still others, fitfully awake and gloriously alive, try to keep at bay niggling dawn thoughts.

Those thoughts about existence and non-existence, thoughts like the ones in Philip Larkin's poem Aubade.

Hong Kong: total eclipse of the Moon

(click on photo to enlarge)

The view from Tung Wan beach at seven pm did not look promising. Thin high cloud was slowly sweeping in from the southeast blanketing out the sky above.

But through the thin cloud a faint, rusty red orb came into sight, low in the east.

As the pale disc slowly rose further above the horizon, the thin cloud passed on. To reveal in the distance a succession of twinkling navigational lights.

Airliners, one following after the other, each making their slow descent along the same flight path to Chep Lap Kok airport.

And above and beyond them, that Moon.

In restless silence divested of its pale rust hue, become a sliver of crescent brightness.

While some us watched from Tung Wan beach.

Hong Kong: total eclipse of the Moon

Tomorrow evening, weather permitting, a total eclipse of the moon will be visible from the comfort of a little island in the South China Sea.

According to Hong Kong Observatory, the earth's shadow will start to cross the Moon at 3:52pm and the total eclipse will begin at 5:52pm (Hong Kong time).

Hereabouts, none of this will be visible, however, until moonrise at 6:43pm. Which is six minutes after the middle of the total eclipse.

Still, that leaves a good forty minutes before the total eclipse ends. After which there will be a further two hours as the Moon wordlessly moves out of the shadow and back into the light. Confused? Maybe this will help: diagram

Looking to the east will help, too. Weather, as they say, permitting.

Lunar eclipse? Obscured by clouds

How was the moon eclipse for you on Saturday evening / Sunday morning, depending on where you live?

Accidentally, Mister Bijou woke up early enough on Sunday morning to view the lunar lightshow at around 5:45am from a bijou balcony, only to be defeated by cloud cover. Thwarted, Mister B went back to bed. So it goes.

Hong Kong: total eclipse of the moon

For those who stay awake on Saturday night or wake up real early Sunday morning, there's the chance to view a total eclipse of the moon.

Moonrise 5:57 p.m. (3 March) East
Moon enters penumbra 4:16 a.m. (4 March) West
Moon enters umbra 5:30 a.m. (4 March) West
Total eclipse begins 6:44 a.m. (4 March) West
Moonset 6:46 a.m. (4 March) West
Middle of eclipse 7:21 a.m. (4 March) West
Total eclipse ends 7:58 a.m. (4 March) West-northwest
Moon leaves umbra 9:12 a.m. (4 March) West-northwest
Moon leaves penumbra 10:25 a.m. (4 March) Northwest

Weather permitting.