Residents of Japan will be able to witness Tuesday night a rare celestial event not seen in 442 years, a total lunar eclipse coinciding with the occultation of Uranus, in which the planet is hidden by the moon.

The cosmic show will start with a partial eclipse, in which part of the moon appears to be missing, at 6:09 p.m., with the total eclipse to be visible from 7:16 p.m. to 8:42 p.m.

A total lunar eclipse occurs when the Earth comes between the sun and the moon, blocking the sun's rays from directly reaching the natural satellite.

As the Earth's atmosphere acts like a lens, the moon will not be blacked out but appear in different shades ranging from bright orange to a darkish tint, depending on conditions such as atmospheric dust.

The occultation of Uranus varies by region, but will be visible in Tokyo for around 40 minutes from 8:40 p.m.

While occultations in themselves are not rare, the occultation of a planet by the eclipsed moon can only occur when the sun, Earth, moon and the planet are almost on the same straight line.

According to the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan, the last time a total lunar eclipse and planetary eclipse coincided was in July 1580, when the moon covered Saturn.

The next time a planet will be occulted by an eclipsed moon will be 322 years from now in July 2344, involving Saturn, the observatory said.