Lunar Eclipse Viewing

Friday evening the Lunar Eclipse rises over Whangarei, and this time it will rise fully eclipsed. So, what does that mean?

The eclipse actually starts at 5pm when the Moon entered the first part of the Earth's shadow, but that is so minor one usually can't see it with the human eye. This time it all happens below the horizon and by 7:30pm the Moon is fully inside Earth's shadow; this is when we say totality has started. The Moon is now fully red and will be very dim, not the usual bright full Moon you are used to seeing.  In Whangarei we will see it rising at 7:40pm over the western horizon and getting even deeper into the shadow to reach maximum eclipse at 8pm. 

We are opening our observatory to view the eclipse, koha entry.