Blood Moon!

Blood Moon on the Horizon

A Blood moon known as a ‘tetrad’ will take place on September 28th, which is just the fourth lunar eclipse in two years.

The rare event will make the moon look up to 14% larger because it is as close to the earth than it will ever be in its elliptical orbit. However there is a chance that the eclipse won’t be visible from New Zealand and as always viewing always depends on weather conditions.

So why will the moon be a ‘blood’ red colour? When the earth eclipses a full moon the direct sunlight is blocked, but the sun's rays still light up the moon. However this light has already traveled through the Earth's atmosphere first, and hence causing the totally eclipsed moon to look red or brownish.