Eclipse of the Moon

New Zealanders will get the rare opportunity to observe a partial lunar eclipse in our skies on Saturday the 26th of June. The Moon will be partially obscured by the shadow of the Earth, as our home planet passes between the Sun and the Moon.

The eclipse will be visible to the naked eye, but we are encouraging amateur star gazers to gather and view the event at the Stardome. We will be providing special shows in the Planetarium that night explaining how eclipses happen. A ticket to one of the special eclipse shows will cost just $10, and screen at 9pm, 9:30pm, 10pm and 10:30pm. Weather permitting, these shows will include complimentary viewing of the eclipse from telescopes set up outside.

Best viewing of the eclipse takes place between 10:30pm and 12:30am, with mid eclipse occurring at 11:38pm.

The last lunar eclipse was a partial one on the 31st of December 2009, but this was not visible over New Zealand. The next eclipse is a full one on the 21st of December this year when the northern part of New Zealand only will get to see it rise in eclipse. That's a long time to wait though, so make sure you come and see the partial eclipse this month.

Eclipses of the moon are fun and interesting to watch. In antiquity they were used by the Greeks to prove that the Earth was round (from the shape of the shadow) and to estimate the relative size of the Earth and Moon as shown by the relative diameters of the Moon and the Earth's shadow cast on the Moon.

Call us now to book tickets to one of these shows on 09 624 1246 before they sell out.

Event listed by stardome99

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