A rare astrological phenomenon – an eclipse of a supergiant star by an asteroid – will occur tonight at around 3am and will be visible in a ‘path’ stretching from Tajikistan and Armenia, across Turkey, Greece, Italy and Spain, to Miami and the Florida Keys and some areas of Mexico.

The star Betelgeuseone of the largest and brightest about 700 light-years from Earth in the constellation Orion, will briefly “disappear” from the night sky as the asteroid Leona – which is in the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter, 55 km wide and 80 km long.

The phenomenon will be observed for the first time by scientists and there is excitement as astronomers hope to learn more about the two celestial bodies through the eclipse, which is expected to last no longer than 15 seconds.

Betelgeuse is about 700 times larger than the Sun and thousands of times brighter, with an age of only 10 million years.

In Greece the eclipse will be visible in areas of central and northern Greece – weather permitting. See the regions in detail here.

Astronomers believe that the phenomenon can be seen with a simple pair of binoculars.

There will also be live broadcast on the Internet here.