Moldova alongside much of Europe, Africa and Asia will be graced on Saturday night by a partial lunar eclipse, with it maximal phase of 81.3 percent to be observed between 21:25 and 3:00 local time. The moon will pass through the northern part of the Earth's dark umbral shadow between 19:36 and 22:44 GMT on August 16. At greatest eclipse much of the moon's diameter will be inside the shadow, leaving only the moon's upper portion still in view. Doctors say eclipses of the Moon are perfectly safe to watch with the naked eye. Eclipses of the sun and moon usually come in pairs. A solar eclipse is almost always accompanied by a lunar eclipse two weeks before or after it, since in two weeks the moon travels halfway around its orbit and is likely to form another almost-straight line with the Earth and sun. The next total lunar eclipse will not come until December 21, 2010.