13 Jun 2010

Partial lunar eclipse on 26 June

7:28 am on 13 June 2010

A partial lunar eclipse will be visible from New Zealand later this month when the Earth's shadow obscures part of the moon.

The shadow will start creeping across the full moon at about 9pm on 26 June, but it will be most striking between 10.30pm and 1am on 27 June.

Mt John Observatory says that about half of the moon will change colour to a shade of red, but that it's hard to predict exactly what it will look like.

A second lunar eclipse will take place in December, which observatory superintendent Alan Gilmore says is unusual given New Zealand experiences an average of one eclipse every two to three years.