A blood moon will fill the Toowoomba skies during a Lunar Eclipse tonight JOY HAYMAN WARD
TOOWOOMBA residents will be looking to the skies to catch a glimpse of the blood moon during tonight's total lunar eclipse.
It is the second chance this year for residents to see the astrological phenomenon which occurs when the Earth blocks all the sunlight to the moon.
The moon is set to turn red as sunlight is reflected onto the moon after bending around the earth's atmosphere.
University of Southern Queensland astrobiologist Dr Jonti Horner said the event would be a sight to be seen.
"The eclipse begins as a shadow appears on the surface of the moon. During the next hour more of the moon will be covered until eventually it moves behind the Earth away from the sun," Dr Horner said.
"At this point the moon should be blacked-out but it will actually appear blood red. This colour is from all the sunrises and sunsets of Earth shining onto the moon.
"The phase of totality with a red moon lasts for an hour, before the moon begins to leave the umbra."
Dr Horner encouraged people to people to take a moment to enjoy the event.
"The best part about this lunar eclipse is as long as you can see the moon you will be able to witness everything unfold," he said.
"The event will begin at around 7:15pm, with the visible effects lasting for three hours and 20 minutes.
"The moon will appear completely red during the phase of the total eclipse between 8:25pm and 9.25pm."
The eclipse is the second of four taking place in 2014 and 2015.
While the first took place in April of this year, the latter two in the series will take place in April next year, but only for a few minutes.
The last will occur a few months later in September but will take place during the daytime in Australia and will not be visible.
When to see the lunar eclipse.
- Eclipse begins - 7.15pm
- Totality begins - 8.25pm
- Totality ends - 9.25pm
- Eclipse ends - 10.35pm
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