Rare blood moon to be visible across North America, Australia and New Zealand

North America, Australia and New Zealand will be treated to a rare total lunar eclipse on Tuesday known as a 'blood moon'. As the full moon dips into the planet’s shadow it will change colour to a "deep and coppery red", says astrophysicist Dr Rebecca Allen of Swinburne University.

It will be the last time people will get to see this celestial phenomenon for nearly three years. A lunar eclipse happens when the Earth lines up between the moon and the sun, blocking direct sunlight. Some sunlight still reaches the moon after passing through Earth’s atmosphere, daubing the surface in a sunset palette.

"Any light that does pass shines through our atmosphere and transforms the lunar surface into a deep, coppery red," Allen says; Dr Brad Tucker of the Australian National University describes it as a little bit of sunlight that "skims" the Earth’s atmosphere and is refracted into an orange-red colour.

North America, Australia, New Zealand

blood moon, lunar eclipse, full moon, north america, australia, new zealand, earth atmosphere, rebecca allen, brad tucker, swinburne university