Total lunar eclipse from Australia April 15

By AG Staff 15 April 2014
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A total lunar eclipse happens at twilight in Australia on April 15 and will likely produce a blood-red moon.

THE EASTERN STATES are in for a rare twilight treat as by the time the sun dims tonight one of 2014’s two total lunar eclipses will have already begun.

Sky gazers will be able to stand in the dusk and watch the Earth’s shadow creep across the moon, which will likely glow a typical eerie blood red.

People watching in Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria will have to keep their eyes low on the horizon, as the eclipse will already have begun as the moon rises low in the east.

Central Australians will be able to see the end of the eclipse, but Western Australia will miss out altogether.

The full eclipse will complete at 5:45p.m. AEST and last until 6:25p.m.AEST. However you will still see signs of the Earth’s shadow falling across the moon until 7:33p.m. AEST. Unlike a solar eclipse, lunar eclipses are safe to view with the naked eye or binoculars.

The blood red colour is caused by longer wavelengths reaching the moon during this process, which also produces the red of sunsets or sunrises. The next total lunar eclipse will be at on 8 October 2014.  

Australian times for the lunar eclipse

Adelaide
Moon rise: 5.48pm
Total eclipse ends 5.55pm
Eclipse ends at 7.03pm

Brisbane
Moon rise: 5.27pm
Total eclipse ends 5.46pm
Eclipse ends at 7.33pm

Darwin 
Moon rise: 6.41pm
Eclipse ends at 7.33pm

Hobart 
Moon rise: 5.33pm
Total eclipse ends 5.46pm
Eclipse ends at 7.33pm

Melbourne
Moon rise: 5.49pm
Total eclipse ends 6.25pm
Eclipse ends at 7.33pm

Sydney
Moon rise: 5.28pm
Total eclipse ends 5.46pm
Eclipse ends at 7.33pm

 

LINKS
Sydney Observatory live stream
NASA live stream