Blood Moon 2022: Australians are watching the total lunar eclipse in their city tonight

Amateur astronomers were treated to a blushing moon across Australian skies during the last total lunar eclipse until 2025.

The eclipse began at 8:09 p.m. AEDT as the moon entered Earth’s shadow before an 85-minute total eclipse began at around 9:16 p.m.

WATCH VIDEO ABOVE: Rare blood moon seen across Australia on Tuesday night.

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The red tint is caused by the little sunlight that slips through Earth’s atmosphere and into the part of space shadowed by the sun.

“Just as sunrise and sunset are orange or reddish in color, so is this light that glides through Earth’s atmosphere and out into space,” said Australian National University astrophysicist Brad Tucker.

While part or all of Australia will be in position for a handful of penumbral or partial lunar eclipses over the next two years, the next total lunar eclipse will not occur until March 2025.

Western Australia will experience a total lunar eclipse in September 2025, while the east coast will not experience a total lunar eclipse until March 2026.

Preparations are underway in Exmouth for a rare total lunar eclipse scheduled for April 2023.

“When the moon comes into the shadow of the earth the earth casts a big shadow into space and what you’ll see as the moon goes in and dims… and when it gets into the middle of that shadow it turns this red, orange pink color,” Tucker told Sunrise.

“It’s like watching a sunrise and sunset illuminate the moon’s surface, so it’s a special treat.

“You get periods where we get them every six months … but this is the last of the series.”

According to NASA, the more dust or clouds there are in the earth’s atmosphere during the total lunar eclipse, the redder the moon appears.