Bermuda will be the best location in the world to see a full lunar eclipse later this evening.

And children at Victor Scott School are making the most of the opportunity by learning more about space, the universe and astronomy in the lead up to the out-of-this-world eclipse, which is due to start around 9 p.m. with the moon totally immersed in the Earth's shadow around two hours later.

One of the Island's reinsurance companies, RenaissanceRe, is playing its part by allowing analyst Sean McCabe to bring his astrological insight to the Victor Scott students during lesson time, and to return in the evening to talk senior students through the various stages of the eclipse as it occurs.

The school is also linking up with students in South Africa, via Internet communication, to share their experiences in real time.

Children in South Africa will be watching the spectacle take place at the same time, but from a different part of the world, and through a Skype connection will chat with the Victor Scott students.

Mr. McCabe, from Ireland, has a deep interest in astronomy and his father taught youngsters about the wonders of space and the stars by travelling around Ireland with a mobile planetarium.

RenRe has given its backing to Mr. McCabe and the Universal Awareness project, which is based in the Netherlands.

The project was set up to promote an understanding of the universe to children in more deprived areas of the world, such as India and Africa, but has since been expanded to capture a wider audience and involve children in many different countries.

"It provides a global network of how to teach about the universe across borders and boundaries," said Mr. McCabe.

"The universe is magical and astronomy is a window into science, be it chemistry, biology, physics. The key is the sky — it is shared by all and it is a resource available to anyone on the planet. It breaks across all borders."

A casual conversation at work led to Mr. McCabe's employers RenRe offering support to allow him to conduct a community project, initially through Victor Scott School, to bring more understanding about astronomy and the solar system and beyond to youngsters.

"RenRe has a culture of learning and this is an outreach programme to connect with the children of the community," he said.

Colleagues at the East Broadway-based reinsurer have played their part, with some bringing in telescopes that can be used this evening to look at the stars as the night sky darkens during the eclipse.

Providing there is no blanket cloud cover, youngsters should be able to pick out the distant planet Saturn, and its famed rings, in the sky as it is currently located close to the moon.

When the moon is eclipsed the solar system's second biggest planet should be easier to observe.

Bermuda is fortunate to be probably the best land location on earth to witness tonight's lunar eclipse.

The moon will be at a near perfect height in the sky and the eclipse will occur at a spot that puts Bermuda in the best seat for the cosmic show as the Earth comes directly between the moon and the sun.

Mr. McCabe will be joined during the evening by Eddie McGonagle, president of the Bermuda Astrological Society, to share knowledge and assist around 40 of the school's more senior students watch the eclipse and observe other objects of interest in the night sky.

"We are viewing it as a pilot project. RenRe has given me the go ahead to do this and provided support. "Next year has been declared the Year of Astrology by the UN to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Galileo's first telescope. UNESCO has selected certain projects to promote and one of those is Universal Awareness," said Mr. McCabe.

Victor Scott principal Dr. Gina Tucker said: "We are very pleased and fortunate to have this opportunity and to have RenRe choose Victor Scott for this programme for the first time.

"The staff are as excited as the children and we'll have staff and parents out with the children during the evening to make it a family affair."

Today's project has its own website at www.unawe.org/eclipse2008.