A DOUBLE dose of rare celestial phenomena will wow stargazers in the skies above North Yorkshire and York this weekend.

Our region is the perfect spot to witness a total eclipse of the moon and a lunar occultation of Saturn - in only two days.

And with long-range forecasts already predicting relatively clear weather on Friday and Saturday, astronomers are urging people to turn their eyes skywards.

In fact, anyone who misses the Saturn event will face a 17-year wait for the next one.

John Harper, president of the Scarborough and Ryedale Astronomical Society (SRAS) and director of the Occultation Section of the Society for Popular Astronomy, said: "In the early hours of Friday, the planet Saturn will disappear behind the moon for about 20 minutes.

"From North Yorkshire, the ringed planet disappears behind the lower left edge of the moon at about 2.33am. It then reappears again at the lower right of the moon at about 2.54am.

"If you look carefully at the moon through a pair of binoculars during Thursday evening you will see the almost full moon approaching Saturn, the bright star-like object close to the lower left of the moon's bright disc.

"Through a small telescope the event will be truly spectacular if the skies are clear."

Saturn will not be occulted by the moon in darkness again until August 21, 2024.

The Saturn occultation will quickly be followed on Saturday night by a total eclipse of the moon - one of the most beautiful of all natural phenomena.

Such an event only takes place at the time of a full moon, with the Sun, the Earth and the moon all lining up.

The eclipse proper will get under way at 9.30pm, when the moon begins its entry into the deepest part of the Earth's shadow. At 10.40pm, totality begins, and the moon will glow in an eerie dull brown light.

It will reach its deepest point at 11.20pm, and begin to leave it at 11.56pm. By 1.10am on Sunday, the eclipse will be over.

John said: "The last total lunar eclipse visible from this country was on October 24, 2004, and the next is due on February 21, 2008."

Members of SRAS will be setting up telescopes at the Holbeck Clock Tower at the southern end of the Esplanade in Scarborough from 9pm until midnight on Saturday, and members of the public are welcome to go along and observe the event through these, weather permitting.