What is the 'super blue blood moon' and when can you see it tonight?
A stunning blood red moon is set to light up the sky on Wednesday night during a rare total lunar eclipse.
While it will be the first total lunar eclipse since 2015, the event is rare because it happens to fall on the second full moon of the calendar month, known as a "blue moon".
It's the first time the events have coincided in 150 years for many countries. Some countries, including Australia, were lucky enough to see it about 35 years ago.
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"This one is going almost right into the centre of the Earth's shadow, so it will be lovely and long," astronomer Tanya Hill of the Melbourne Planetarium told the ABC.
"It will be a fantastic eclipse to see. Slowly you'll see that shadow move across the Moon until it completely engulfs it. That's when we have the beautiful colour of totality forming."
"After an hour or so the Moon will start to emerge and you'll start to see the moon brightening up as it completely drifts away from the Earth's shadow."
Peak times to watch the eclipse in each state
Adelaide: Between 11.22pm and 12.38am.
Brisbane: Between 10.52pm and 12.08am.
Canberra: Between 11.52pm and 1.08am.
Darwin: Between 10.22pm and 11.38pm.
Hobart: Between 11.52pm and 1.08am.
Melbourne: Between 11.52pm and 1.08am.
Perth: Between 8.52pm and 10.08pm.
Sydney: Between 11.52pm and 1.08am.
Astronomer Brad Tucker of the Australian National University said the red area is caused by the light filtering and bending properties of the atmosphere.
"That red appearance is really the sunrise and the sunset of the Earth falling on the Moon," he said.
King Tides in Queensland
The south-east coast of Queensland is being hit by huge king tides linked with Wednesday night's super blue blood moon.
People in these areas are unlikely to see the rare astronomical event because of heavy cloud cover.
Gold Coast beaches are being heavily eroded by a king tide driven by the moon at its closest distance to Earth on this orbit.
Bureau of Meteorology senior forecaster Sam Campbell said cloud cover would hit the Gold Coast and Brisbane first.
"That's probably going to come through after around 7:00pm and then it'll head up to the Sunshine Coast, probably pushing through there by nine or 10:00pm," he told the ABC.
Swimmers are being warned to be vigilant around the water and stay between the red and yellow flags.
