Total lunar eclipse on October 8th, 2014 Joe Cali On Wednesday October 8th,  a total lunar eclipse will be visible across Australia during the first half of the night.  A lunar eclipse occurs at some full moons when the Moon passes through the Earth's orbital plane at full moon. The Earth's shadow is cast a long way out into space. When the Moon passes through this shadow, we see a lunar eclipse.  A lunar eclipse is perfectly safe to watch. There is no danger to your eyes. At full moon, the Moon rises as the sun sets.

This map shows visibility of the total lunar eclipse across the continent.  I have broken the continent into three broad regions, east, central and west.  

The altitudes given in this article are only approximate.  Australia is a big place and altitude of the Moon obviously varies with location.

Eastern States
On the eastern side of the continent, the whole eclipse can be observed in relative darkness.  The penumbral eclipse begins as the Moon rises and the sun sets. Twilight interferes with the penumbral eclipse, which is practically invisible to the untrained observer and barely perceptible to an expert observer.  The partial eclipse begins as twilight ends with the Moon approximately 10-15^o above the horizon. Totality begins with the Moon in the northeast about 25^o above the horizon and finishes with the Moon 35^o above the horizon still in the northeast.

Central Australia
In the central states, the penumbral eclipse occurs before Moonrise and the partial eclipse begins with the Moon near the horizon. Totality begins near the end of twilight with the Moon 13^o above the horizon. and ends with the Moon 25 degrees above the northeast horizon.

Western Australia
In Perth, totality is in progress as the Moon rises at sunset. A totally eclipsed moon will probably not be visible at sunset but as twilight sets in, the coppery red moon will progressively become more visible against the deep blue sky on the eastern horizon. The total eclipse ends as twilight is coming to an end.

Whilst not ideal for astronomical observations, eclipses like this are aesthetically beautiful to watch as the coppery Moon magically appears out of the darkening twilight sky.  Lunar eclipses vary in brightness. This is usually related to how deep into the umbra the Moon passes during the eclipse.  As can be seen in the umbral passage diagram below, the limb of the moon does not go through the center of the umbra. One limb of the Moon is always near the edge of the  and so this should be a relatively bright eclipse.