Grey nomads sitting in their camphairs in Outback and regional Australia should have among the best seats in the house for tonight’s stargazing triple treat.
Astronomers says we will be able to see a total lunar eclipse, which will turn the moon a brooding, dark red, coinciding with both a supermoon and a rare blue moon.
The last time it happened in Australia was December 30, 1983, but in other parts of the world, it’s been more like 150 years.
The Australian newspaper reports that the best time to see the total lunar eclipse in the various states (in local time) is:
Adelaide: Totality begins 11.21pm, ends 12.38am
Brisbane: Totality begins 10.51pm, ends 12.08am
Darwin: Totality begins 10.21pm, ends 11.38pm
Sydney, Melbourne, Hobart: Totality begins 11.51pm, ends 1.08am
Perth: Totality begins 8.51pm, ends 10.08pm
“Tonight, we have three lunar events happening simultaneously; the moon will be at perigee (the closest point in its elliptical orbit to Earth), it will be a blue moon for most of the world and — most spectacularly — it will be a total lunar eclipse,” Penrith Observatory manager Raelene Sommers said in a statement. “The total lunar eclipse will be visible for all of Australia and parts of Europe, Asia and the United States. This is often referred to as a blood moon because the moon appears red. This is because the blue wavelengths of light are more scattered than the red, resulting in the reddish colour — this must have been scary for ancient humans that didn’t understand what was happening.”
Astrophysicist Alan Duffy says the random event is a rare trifecta, with the moon appearing bigger and a third brighter before it turns red when the moon passes into the Earth’s shadow and reflects the sun back at the Earth.
Prof Duffy said there were two critical phases to tonight’s super blue blood moon and lunar eclipse.
The first is the moonrise, which will happen as the sun sets.
“Stand with your back to the sun and watch to the east as the moon rises and thanks to a psychological trick called the moon illusion, it will look enormous,” Prof Duffy said.
The second event is the eclipse.
“It takes a few hours, though, so you can afford to get comfortable and enjoy the sight of the shadow beginning to move across the surface of the moon,” said Prof Duffy. “And then, it will be completely red and you can enjoy that sight for about an hour.”
• Are you preparing for a moon party tonight? Comment below.
