A blood moon captured in March. (File photo) Photo: Supplied/ Russell Malthus
If you look up to the sky early on Monday morning you may be greeted by a red hue over the moon.
The blood moon, or total lunar eclipse, will be visible across New Zealand on 8 September - for those of us up early enough to see it.
A blood moon happened when the moon passed through the earth's shadow, called the penumbra, creating a "red hue" - hence the name.
A blood moon could occur up to a couple of times a year, and give the moon a dull redish hue - but they were not always visible.
How and when to see the blood moon
Stardome astronomer Josh Aoraki, said the moon would turn red as the sun begins to rise.
It meant anyone wanting to catch a glimpse of it would need to be looking at the sky between 5am and 6am on Monday.
By about 6.30am the sun would have taken over the sky.
Aoraki said no special equipment would be needed to view the blood moon - just your eyes and a clear view of the western horizon.
"Going up a maunga in Auckland for example would get a great view," Aoraki said.
Anyone who wanted to see the blood moon should keep an eye on the weather forecast the night before, Aoraki said.
If it was a particularly cloudy morning or there was wild weather that day, it was possible the view could be obscured.
At this stage MetService is forecasting a mainly fine morning for most of the country.
This will be the second time in 2025 a blood moon has occurred. The first was in March.
Before that, the last blood moon was in 2022.
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