A cosmic phenomenon for the stargazers.
Don’t forget to look up at the sky tomorrow night, because a lunar eclipse and a super blood moon will be visible across Victoria.
Just last month we witnessed a super pink moon which was simply stunning, and now the sky has upped the ante with a rare celestial event happening tomorrow night, on Wednesday, May 26.
Gracing the skies at a very convenient start time of 6:47pm, Aussie stargazers have front row seats to the rare super moon – the super blood moon – AND a total lunar eclipse. This will be a superlunar event, as it will be a supermoon, a lunar eclipse and a red blood moon all at once, resulting in spectacular and visually breathtaking views.
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Marking the first lunar eclipse for 2021, this occurs when the Sun and Moon occupy precise positions on opposite sides of Earth. During this alignment, Earth blocks some of the Sun’s light from reaching the full moon.
In a nutshell then, the super blood moon occurs when a total lunar eclipse takes place at the same time the moon is in perigee – the closest point to Earth in its orbit (when the moon is at its biggest and brightest).
Unlike the super pink moon, which wasn’t at all pink, the blood moon will be red in colour due to the red sunlight filtering through Earth’s atmosphere that gets refracted – or bent – toward the Moon, while blue light is filtered out. This leaves the moon with a pale reddish hue during an eclipse.
Lucky for us, those living in the Pacific Rim (all of eastern Australia, South Australia and most of the NT) will be blessed with the best view of the super blood moon, although as usual, that will depend on cloud cover.
And even better, unlike solar eclipses, lunar eclipses are safe to be viewed with the naked eye. So roll out the blanket and indulge in all its red glory. For tips on how to capture the moon with your camera, head here.
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The super blood moon will rise on Wednesday, May 26 from about 6.47pm AEST with the total eclipse predicted to happen at 9:11pm.
