Red planet, 'blood moon' to pair up

PARIS - The longest "blood moon" eclipse this century will coincide with Mars' closest approach in 15 years to offer skygazers a thrilling astronomical double bill on Friday, astronomers say.

For about half the world, the moon will be partly or fully in Earth's shadow from 1714 to 2328 GMT - six hours and 14 minutes in all.

It is 27 minutes longer than the "super blue blood moon" that occurred in January.