A full lunar eclipse will be visible from Toronto starting just before 2 a.m. on Tuesday morning. Unlike other cosmic events like the Aurora Borealis, light pollution won't prevent city residents from taking in the show. While it'd be a good idea to find a relatively dark place to do your viewing, the so-called blood moon is easily visibly with the naked eye (though, in fact, it's more of a rust/copper colour).

The weather could, however, be a different story. The forecast looks troublesome now, with the possibility of rain overnight, but with the peak of the eclipse coming at around 3:45am, one hopes that a clearing trend will occur before the moon sets. In any case, the best way to track viewing conditions is by checking the Toronto Clear Sky Chart. As an astronomer's forecast, it provides far more specific information as pertains to cloud cover over Toronto than your average weather report. If the chart still shows a lot of white or grey between 2 a.m. and 4 a.m. later this evening, there probably isn't much point in staying up for the moon (though you could always wake up early and try to catch the tail end).

The good news is that even if it's overcast in the early hours tomorrow morning, another chance to catch a lunar eclipse is on the horizon -- three more, in fact. Tomorrow's eclipse ushers in a tetrad of full lunar eclipses, with subsequent events occurring roughly once every six months. The next one will take place October 8, 2014.