A total lunar eclipse will take place on Wednesday, January 31, 2018. This spectacular event occurs when the Sun, Earth and Moon align and is sometimes referred to as a blood moon. 

Varying degrees of red may be visible due to the reflection of the Sun. 

Len Fulham, Mount Isa Astronomy club secretary, explains the phenomenon. 

“During the umbral phase, the moon would be completely dark if the Earth had no atmosphere, but it does and the atmosphere has a ring of sunrise and sunsets which scatter red light onto the Moon,” Mr Fulham said.

An eclipse of the moon only happens when a full moon passes through a portion of the Earth’s shadow.

That shadow is composed of two cone-shaped components.

The umbral shadow is when the Earth blocks all direct sunlight from reaching the moon and the penumbral shadow is when the Earth blocks part of the sun's rays from reaching the moon.

This eclipse moon is also a Supermoon meaning it will appear profoundly bigger as it travels past its closest point to the Earth.

And if all of that isn’t spectacular enough, it is also a blue moon which means it is the second full moon this month. Hence the idiom “once in a blue moon.”

The most exciting part is we will get to view it.

This is a rare event, the last total lunar eclipse in the Southern Hemisphere was on April 4, 2015.

This time round the penumbral phase begins 8.50pm Wednesday although this may be hard to recognise with the untrained eye.

At 9.48pm the umbral phase, commonly called the partial eclipse, begins. 

The moon will be in total eclipse at 11.30pm and will move out of eclipse at 2.08am on February 1.

“It’s a backyard job so get out the deck chairs, some cold drinks and enjoy the show,” Mr Fulham said.

The next total lunar eclipse is on the morning of Saturday, July 28 beginning at 3.13am and continuing until sunrise when the Moon will set in total eclipse, however, only the first half of this event will be observable from Mount Isa.