Tonight, South Africans will be able to see a total lunar eclipse of the moon.
This will be a historical eclipse as it will last three hours and 55 minutes, making it the longest eclipse of this century. Near the eclipsed “blood moon” on Friday will be the “red planet” Mars shining at its brightest in 15 years.
The moon will start changing shape as it enters the shadow of the earth at 8:24pm.
From 9:30 pm until 11:13 pm, it will be totally eclipsed, but faintly lit by light refracted by the earth’s atmosphere, which should give it a pale reddish colour. At 11:13 pm the moon starts recovering from the eclipse, which will be over by midnight.
