Kiwis will on Friday get the chance to see the moon turn red in the longest near-total lunar eclipse visible in Aotearoa in more than 800 years.
According to Stardome, on Friday night the moon's face will be 97 per cent covered by the deepest part of the Earth's shadow, turning the lunar surface briefly red.
The near-total eclipse will take place over three hours and 28 minutes - the longest since 1212.
Weather permitting, it's expected sky gazers were see the change from 8pm. People will see the Earth's shadow 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 surface is in shadow, which will peak just after 10pm, according to Stardome. The shadow will then gradually recede until the partial phase ends shortly before midnight.
"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," Stardome astronomer Rob Davison explained.
"So the moon travels close to the centre of Earth's shadow and will stay there for longer than average.
"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."
Davidson also noted that 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:
Begins: Friday 19 November at 8.20pm
Maximum: Friday 19 November at 10.04pm 0.974 Magnitude
Ends: Saturday 20 November at 11.48pm
Duration: 3 hours, 28 minutes
For those who don't want to step outside, NASA will have a livestream of the lunar eclipse here.
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