NZ sky set to turn red at 10 pm tonight

New Zealanders looking to the sky tonight will be treated to a rare lunar spectacle, not seen in the sky in more than 800 years.

The Moon will turn red today in a near-total lunar eclipse, expected to last three hours and 28 minutes, a statement from Stardome said.

It will be the longest partial lunar eclipse that is fully visible from Aotearoa since the year 1212.

Stardome’s astronomer Rob Davison said, “This partial lunar eclipse is unusually long because it’s near total and it’s near apogee, which means the Moon is furthest from Earth in its orbit, which is known as a micromoon.”

“Most of the eclipse will be dominated by the shadow moving across the Moon, with a brief period where it will appear as a blood micromoon in our night sky.”

Weather permitting, sky gazers will see the near-total eclipse begin very soon after moonrise at around 8pm. Earth’s shadow will then gradually cover the surface of the Moon as it rises higher in the sky. The red colour will be visible once the vast majority of the Moon’s surface is in Earth’s shadow, which will peak just after 10pm. The shadow will then gradually recede until the partial phase ends shortly before midnight.

Rob says the Moon will also be only a few degrees away from Matariki in the sky, and they will rise at a very similar time.

HOW TO VIEW THE BLOOD MICROMOON

For those who don’t want to step outside, NASA will have a livestream of the lunar eclipse.