A RARE SPACE event is to take place tonight when the international space station (ISS) will pass in front of the moon.

The international space station is the biggest and most expensive spacecraft ever to be put into orbit.

Spectacular sight

At 8.54pm tonight, it will rise in the west, travel through the sky towards the moon, with what Astronomy Ireland promises will be a spectacular sight.

David Moore, editor of Astronomy Ireland magazine is urging everyone to get out and see the spectacle. He said the ISS will almost look as if it will crash into the moon, but of course this wont happen, as the Moon is about a thousand times further away than the space station, he said.

He added:

If you imagine a line drawn from Dublin to Bantry Bay in Cork, people along that line can look up and see the ISS pass in front of the Moon. This is a very rare event and we want everyone who can to go out and see it!

The ISS will continue to pass over Ireland every evening until 26 October.

Read: Life on Mars? Not looking likely, says new NASA study>

Read the original:

International Space Station to pass in front of the moon tonight