'A wonderful shade of red': Rare blood supermoon delights NZ stargazers

Thursday, 27 May 2021

Magdalena Stanuch from Grey Lynn created this time-lapse using images taken every 20 minutes.

Clear skies over most of Aotearoa on Wednesday night revealed spectacular views of the blood supermoon.

It had been about 40 years since New Zealanders saw the astronomical phenomenon of a blood supermoon rising – where a total lunar eclipse happens at the same time as a supermoon.

The rare supermoon and lunar eclipse combination was quite the spectacle, piquing the interest of astrophotographers and amateur photographers around the country.

The lunar eclipse lasted for about five hours, beginning shortly before 9pm and reaching totality from about 11.11pm, with the full eclipse ending at 11.25pm.

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Otago Museum director Ian Griffin watched the eclipse from the University of Canterbury’s Mt John Observartory overlooking Lake Tekapo.

“We had a fantastic view from here last night and got some lovely pictures. It was a wonderful, wonderful eclipse,” Griffin said.

Stuff's Tom Lee captured this image of the blood supermoon near the end of the full eclipse.

“The change in light level was really amazing. From 20 minutes before the total phase to 20 minutes after, the sky got really, really dark. It was quite spooky but also quite impressive,” Griffin said.

“The most interesting thing last night from my perspective was that there was a kind of gradation across the Moon. One part of the Moon was quite dark, one part was quite bright, during the eclipse.” He thought that was because the Moon was just grazing the Earth’s dark shadow.

The Nelson Science Society astronomy section put telescopes in Upper Trafalgar St so members of the public had an opportunity to view the Lunar eclipse on Wednesday night.

“That was something that was quite unexpected. I think most of us were expecting a slightly more flat colouration of the Moon, but there was definitely a bright and dark bit,” Griffin said.

He was also able to get some impressive pictures of the Moon during the eclipse against the background of the constellation Scorpius. “The Moon got so dim you could see the beautiful clouds of dust and gas,” Griffin said.

He was just heading off to bed about 8am Thursday. “When you’re at New Zealand’s best observatory, you don’t go to bed when it’s dark,” he said.

Wellington night sky photographer Mark Gee was revelling in the weather conditions.

He took pictures from the back deck of his home in the suburb of Miramar, and said the lunar eclipse was probably the best of the many he had watched, definitely the best in Wellington.

“The weather was incredible. It wasn’t just the clear skies, but the fact we had no wind at all. It was great for my super telephoto lens,” Gee said.

He enjoyed being able to watch the period of about 15 minutes around the time when the Moon was fully in Earth’s shadow – from about 11.10pm to 11.25pm - without having to worry about the possibility of cloud obscuring the view at any time.

Hina Patel captured this image from Mt Wellington, Auckland.

When clouds appeared at the start of the eclipse, Dr Nick Rattenbury was worried his view would be obscured in Eastern Bays, Auckland.

But the clouds “rolled past” – and “just in the nick of time”, he said.

Rattenbury, from the University of Auckland’s faculty of science, said the view was “fantastic” and it stayed clear for the rest of the night.

He was so impressed he woke up his seven-year-old daughter, Julia, and 13-year-old son, William, so they could enjoy the event.

“I promised to get my kids up if the skies were clear … I hauled my daughter out of bed and carried her downstairs … For someone who had just woken up, she was duly impressed.”

His son was more engaged and knew a bit more about what was going on, he said.

The moon was visible to naked eye, which was one of the “neat things” about lunar eclipses, he said.

“You don’t need specialised equipment. In fact, it is best observed with the naked eye.”

The rare event had lived up to his expectations.

“It was a perfect evening. The skies were beautifully clear, and it wasn’t too cold or windy. As astronomy goes, that's pretty much all you can really ask for.

“It certainly delivered. It was a wonderful shade of red,” Rattenbury added.

Sheena Henderson left her home because of cloud cover and observed the supermoon in Mandeville, Waimakariri instead.

The temperature dropped from 12 degrees Celsius to -1C as she headed north, but it was worth it, she said.

Al Francis Lim submitted a photo to Stuff and said he was “truly blessed to have witnessed this rare beauty”.

According to Nasa, this was to be the year’s “most super” moon.

Nasa explains a supermoon is when the moon passes through perigee (its closest point to Earth). Because the moon is a little closer than when it is in apogee (its farthest point from Earth) it appears much larger and brighter.

A lunar eclipse is what happens when the sun and moon are in specific positions on opposite sides of Earth.

According to Nasa, this alignment sees Earth block some of the sun's light from the full moon.

Earth's atmosphere then filters the light as it passes through, it softens the edge of Earth's shadow and gives the Moon a deep, rosy glow.