Pink moon will be visible this weekend

Australians will be treated to a spectacular 'Strawberry Moon' lunar eclipse in the early hours of Saturday.  The phenomenon, also known as a penumbral eclipse, occurs when the earth, sun and moon are all aligned. This means the earth blocks the sun's light from reaching the moon, casting a shadow over it.

The incredible sight will be seen across the country and will begin around 3.45am on the east coast and 1.45am in the west.

Astrophysicist Dr David Gozzard, from the University of Western Australia International Centre for Radio Astronomy Research said the eclipse will last around three hours.'A strawberry moon is a name for a full moon in June and lunar eclipses like these always happen at the full moon,' he told Daily Mail Australia.   

'It's called a penumbral eclipse so the Earth's shadow has a fuzzy outer region where you only get a partial shadow and not a full shadow of the sun. That's called a penumbra and that is the area the moon will pass through.'The moon won't disappear it'll just go dimmer, so what we'll really see is a dimmed full moon. It won't be as bright as it normally is.'  

Dr Gozzard said the best views will be from the west coast but Australians in all states will be able to see it.  'Because it's going to last about three hours that means it's going to be peaking around twilight, so around dawn, when the sun is getting up,' he said.

'The full moon is going to be quite high in the sky so it'll be reasonably obvious. Anywhere you can get out and see the sky and see the moon will be a good place to see it from, as long as you can get a reasonably unobstructed view to the west.

'It'll be very obvious you don't need anything special to see it.'  The eclipse is expected to be over by 7am and will be seen in line with the horizon in the east, and higher in the sky in the west. 

'Lunar eclipses come in pairs or sometimes triplets so this will have a corresponding sibling eclipse in May next year. It will be a more spectacular eclipse with a total or partial eclipse of the shadow of the earth,' Dr Gozzard said.  This Strawberry Moon Eclipse will start this year's 'eclipse season'. The next two lunar eclipses will be visible on July 4-5 and November 29-30.