Moon turns to blood

JASON OXENHAM/East and Bays Courier

RED MOON: Next week's luna eclipse will serve as a celebration of the world's oldest science.

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For a front row seat to a cosmic light show next week, just look up.

On Tuesday night the moon will turn red as it passes through Earth's shadow in the first total lunar eclipse seen from New Zealand since 2000.

Excitement is building at Auckland's Stardome Observatory, education and programmes manager Graham Murray says.

"This one is great because we're in the path of the moon being totally covered by the shadow," he says.

"This is a direct hit. A near miss doesn't matter."

A lunar eclipse, or luna rosa, won't be seen from New Zealand again until December 2010.

Cloudy weather is predicted for Auckland, but Mr Murray says that won't put a dampener on the event.

"A sniff of rain doesn't put us off," he says.

"We think over a three-hour period there will be a break in the clouds. And we're working collaboratively with observatories in Hawaii and Sydney so if our own images aren't available, theirs are."

Mr Murray says the eclipse is a celebration of what astronomers have achieved.

"The fact it turns up on time shows they have got it right," he says.

"It's just a reminder of the importance of astronomy to us."

Signs of a shadow falling across the full moon will start to appear at about 9pm on Tuesday.

Between 9pm and 10pm the shadow will cover more of the face and the moon will start to turn red.

"It's the same reason a sunset is red," Mr Murray says.

"When sunlight hits Earth's atmosphere red light travels through it and blue light is stopped." Between 10pm and 11pm the moon will be totally in shadow.

"It only takes about two hours to come inside the shadow and out the other side of it," Mr Murray says.

Metservice weather ambassador Bob McDavitt says cloudy skies and showers are predicted for Auckland on Tuesday night.

The clearest viewing is likely to be south of Taupo.

An eclipse simulation is showing at the Stardome planetarium every half hour from 8pm to 10.30pm.

Courtyard telescopes will be open for viewing, with a live feed from the large Zeiss telescope to a big screen.