Best places to see super blood moon in Perth

Perth stargazers are hoping today’s cloud cover will clear in time to catch a glimpse of the rare super blood moon this evening.

A super blood moon is when a total lunar eclipse (or blood moon) happens at the same time as the “super” moon — which appears brighter and bigger.

Perth Observatory spokesman Matt Woods said the eclipse would begin at 5.45pm WA time but the best time to see it would be from 7.11pm.

“That is when the moon is completely in what is called the ‘umbra’ or inner shadow of the earth,” he said.

The best places in metropolitan area to see the eclipse are the observation deck at Kings Park, Mardalup Park in Claisebrook Cove, Matilda Bay near the University of WA, the western side of Lake Joondalup Nature Reserve, South Ledge Lookout at Mundaring Weir and Point Peron in Rockingham.

However, weather conditions could make it difficult for people in Perth to see the blood moon in all its glory.

Bureau of Meteorology duty forecaster Hilary Wilson said the moon would be visible on the horizon but as it rose higher it may be covered by clouds.

Mr Woods said the red/orange hue of a blood moon was caused by gases in earth’s atmosphere.

“Unlike a total solar eclipse, there is still some light going through the atmosphere and hitting the moon,” he said.

“The nitrogen and oxygen absorbs the blue light from the sun, which means what’s left over is red and yellow light, which makes for an orange moon.”

Tips for photographing the blood moon

• Use a tripod to stabilise your camera and minimise blurriness
• Set your camera to full manual mode
• Set iso at 400
• Set the aperture (the size of the opening on your camera) to f/11 or the widest aperture
• Set your shutter speed to 1/100 and photograph at 30second intervals
• Set your camera to manual focus and then focus on the moon so it is a sharp image