Hawke’s Bay residents to enjoy clear skies for lunar eclipse on Friday

• Hawke’s Bay residents can expect a clear view of the “blood moon” on Friday evening.
• The lunar eclipse will begin at 7.38pm, peak between 8pm and 8.30pm, and end at 11pm.
• A lunar eclipse occurs when the Earth blocks the sun’s light by passing in front of the moon.

As the moon rises over Hawke’s Bay on Friday evening, residents can expect to see a reddish hue as it goes into a lunar eclipse.

Bruce Ngataierua, director of the Holt Planetarium in Napier, says the “blood moon” will begin as the moon rises at 7.38pm, reach totality between 8pm and 8.30pm, and end at 11pm.

“A lunar eclipse occurs when the Earth blocks the sun’s light by passing in front of the moon,” says Ngataierua.

“According to Nasa, some sunlight will still pass through Earth’s atmosphere and reach the moon’s surface during an eclipse, giving it a striking and dim red glow.

“This is because colours with shorter wavelengths, like blues and violets, scatter more easily than those with longer wavelengths, like red and orange.

“Because these longer wavelengths make it through Earth’s atmosphere, and the shorter wavelengths have scattered away, the moon appears orangish or reddish during a lunar eclipse.”

MetService meteorologist Mmathapelo Makgabutlane says Hawke’s Bay residents should expect good viewing conditions, apart from those in the ranges.

“In the ranges, it could be a little cloudy at times,” she said.

For the rest of the weekend, Makgabutlane says to expect dry conditions with north-westerly winds and temperatures in the mid-20s, with the warmer temperatures carrying on into next week.

“It does look like temperatures do go up to the high 20s, so it’s only getting warmer going into next week,” she said.

“It should be pretty sweet by the looks of it.”