Friday's full moon promising a treat for sky gazers

The Earth, sun and full moon will align in an almost perfectly straight line Friday evening, creating a rare spectacle in the night sky: a penumbral eclipse. 

Unlike the traditional lunar eclipse, when the moon moves into Earth's shadow and turns orange, on Friday the moon will catch only the outer edge of the shadow and turn grey, according to Gary Boyle, an Ottawa-based astronomy educator. 

Skywatchers can catch a glimpse of the eclipse at 7:43 p.m. ET from anywhere the moon is in sight. 

Boyle said although the moon's change in colour will be "barely noticeable," capturing before and after photos of the eclipse could make for a fun project. 

Comet 45P approaches Earth

A few hours after the eclipse, a blue-green comet which has been visible through telescopes for the past two months will make its closest approach to Earth — "only" 11.9 million kilometres away.

Looking to the east, Comet 45P will be visible in the Hercules constellation around 3 a.m. ET Saturday morning, NASA said. 

"It's a beautiful thing to see if you have a telescope," Boyle said. 

With the Orion constellation peeking through for a few more weeks, Boyle said February is a lovely time to be out in the countryside to see some of the brightest stars in our galaxy.

While the next total lunar eclipse won't happen until 2019, sky gazers can expect big meteor showers toward the second half of the year.