The first total lunar eclipse of 2014 will occur on 14-15 April, but unfortunately for UK stargazers it’ll only be visible in North and South America.

For those parts of the Earth in daylight during the eclipse , Nasa will be live-streaming the event with additional imagery available through the Slooh camera – a robotic telescope service accessible over the web (see below for video).

The eclipse will be the first in a series of four total eclipses taking place at regular six month intervals - an astronomical event known as a ‘lunar tetrad’.

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Normally, lunar eclipses only take place about twice a year and even then they're rarely total, making this tetrad an unusual event. During a lunar eclipse the Moon does not completely disappear from sight (as the Sun does during a total solar eclipse) but it instead moves into the darkest part of Earth’s shadow known as the umbra.

Shape Created with Sketch. In pictures: Blood moon eclipse Show all 15 left Created with Sketch. right Created with Sketch. Shape Created with Sketch. In pictures: Blood moon eclipse 1/15 Blood moon eclipse A sequence, from bottom left to top left, of the moon's transition during a total lunar eclipse in Miami, Florida 2/15 Blood moon eclipse A total lunar eclipse in the sky over the Mexican city of Guadalajara 3/15 Blood moon eclipse A total lunar eclipse was visible from North and South America, but sky watchers in northern and and eastern Europe, eastern Africa, the Middle East and Central Asia were out of luck, according to US space agency NASA 4/15 Blood moon eclipse The moon moves out of a lunar eclipse over southern California as seen from Korea town, west of downtown Los Angeles 5/15 Blood moon eclipse The moon is halfway through a lunar eclipse over southern California as seen from Korea town, west of downtown Los Angeles 6/15 Blood moon eclipse The moon is seen during the early stages of a total lunar eclipse over the Honduras city of Tegucigalpa 7/15 Blood moon eclipse The moon is seen as it nears a total lunar eclipse in San Francisco, California 8/15 Blood moon eclipse The moon is seen as it emerges from a total lunar eclipse in Miami, Florida 9/15 Blood moon eclipse The moon is seen during a total lunar eclipse in Miami, Florida 10/15 Blood moon eclipse A lunar eclipse takes place over southern California as seen from the San Gabriel Valley, east of downtown Los Angeles 11/15 Blood moon eclipse The 'Blood Moon' rises over the water in Wlliamstown in Melbourne, Australia. The Lunar Eclipse, resulting in the Moon appearing to be an orange-red colour is due to a perfect alignment of the Sun, Earth and Moon, otherwise known as 'syzygy' 12/15 Blood moon eclipse The moon is seen during a total lunar eclipse from the Spanish Canary island of Tenerife 13/15 Blood moon eclipse The moon is seen before a total eclipse in Buenos Aires Getty 14/15 Blood moon eclipse The moon is seen during the early stages of a total lunar eclipse over the Honduras city of Tegucigalpa 15/15 Blood moon eclipse The moon is seen as it emerges from a total lunar eclipse in Miami, Florida 1/15 Blood moon eclipse A sequence, from bottom left to top left, of the moon's transition during a total lunar eclipse in Miami, Florida 2/15 Blood moon eclipse A total lunar eclipse in the sky over the Mexican city of Guadalajara 3/15 Blood moon eclipse A total lunar eclipse was visible from North and South America, but sky watchers in northern and and eastern Europe, eastern Africa, the Middle East and Central Asia were out of luck, according to US space agency NASA 4/15 Blood moon eclipse The moon moves out of a lunar eclipse over southern California as seen from Korea town, west of downtown Los Angeles 5/15 Blood moon eclipse The moon is halfway through a lunar eclipse over southern California as seen from Korea town, west of downtown Los Angeles 6/15 Blood moon eclipse The moon is seen during the early stages of a total lunar eclipse over the Honduras city of Tegucigalpa 7/15 Blood moon eclipse The moon is seen as it nears a total lunar eclipse in San Francisco, California 8/15 Blood moon eclipse The moon is seen as it emerges from a total lunar eclipse in Miami, Florida 9/15 Blood moon eclipse The moon is seen during a total lunar eclipse in Miami, Florida 10/15 Blood moon eclipse A lunar eclipse takes place over southern California as seen from the San Gabriel Valley, east of downtown Los Angeles 11/15 Blood moon eclipse The 'Blood Moon' rises over the water in Wlliamstown in Melbourne, Australia. The Lunar Eclipse, resulting in the Moon appearing to be an orange-red colour is due to a perfect alignment of the Sun, Earth and Moon, otherwise known as 'syzygy' 12/15 Blood moon eclipse The moon is seen during a total lunar eclipse from the Spanish Canary island of Tenerife 13/15 Blood moon eclipse The moon is seen before a total eclipse in Buenos Aires Getty 14/15 Blood moon eclipse The moon is seen during the early stages of a total lunar eclipse over the Honduras city of Tegucigalpa 15/15 Blood moon eclipse The moon is seen as it emerges from a total lunar eclipse in Miami, Florida

This means that the Earth blocks all direct sunlight from reflecting off the Moon’s surface and instead the light passes through the Earth’s atmosphere. It’s this that gives the Moon a reddy colouring during a total eclipse as the Earth’s atmosphere scatters others parts of the light spectrum.

As astronomy site EarthSky explains, imagine yourself standing on the lunar surface looking back at the Earth with the sun behind it. You would see that the rim of the planet lit by the light of the Sun streaming through the atmosphere: effectively, you’d be watching every single sunrise and sunset on Earth simultaneously. It’s this red light that is then reflected off the surface of Moon.

This phenomenon has led to the popularity of the phrase ‘blood moon’. It’s a legitimate (if melodramatic) term, but it’s unfortunately become associated with a certain sort of conspiracy theory associating the upcoming tetrad with all manner of catastrophic events. We’ve written a guide to all this here.

See below the livestream of the April 14-15 lunar eclipse: