{"id":297324,"date":"2026-02-23T00:33:07","date_gmt":"2026-02-23T00:33:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/297324\/"},"modified":"2026-02-23T00:33:07","modified_gmt":"2026-02-23T00:33:07","slug":"total-lunar-eclipse-new-zealand-has-front-row-seat-to-only-lunar-eclipse-of-2026-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/297324\/","title":{"rendered":"Total lunar eclipse: New Zealand has \u2018front-row seat\u2019 to only lunar eclipse of 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"nfOBuVOCysHhj\" style=\"display:none\">The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nzherald.co.nz\/nz\/total-lunar-eclipse-tonight-blood-moon-visible-in-tauranga-and-rotorua\/BAQK7QK7OBEDBL2AVUSFPLNWXY\/\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" title=\"https:\/\/www.nzherald.co.nz\/nz\/total-lunar-eclipse-tonight-blood-moon-visible-in-tauranga-and-rotorua\/BAQK7QK7OBEDBL2AVUSFPLNWXY\/\">total eclipse \u2013 also known as a \u201cBlood Moon\u201d<\/a> \u2013 will happen just after midnight on Wednesday, March 4, with the best time to catch it at about 12.30am.<\/p>\n<p class=\"nfOBuVOCysHhj\" style=\"display:none\">No special equipment was needed to view the eclipse, Stardome said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"nfOBuVOCysHhj\" style=\"display:none\">\u201cJust your eyes and a clear view of the sky. Be sure to check the forecast for your local area if you\u2019re planning to watch this dazzling celestial display.<\/p>\n<p class=\"nfOBuVOCysHhj\" style=\"display:none\">\u201cThere will not be <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nzherald.co.nz\/northern-advocate\/news\/2028-total-solar-eclipse-in-new-zealand-likely-big-tourism-drawcard-astronomer-says\/6CHZMU5V5RHCRGPSUW5EGR4RKM\/\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" title=\"https:\/\/www.nzherald.co.nz\/northern-advocate\/news\/2028-total-solar-eclipse-in-new-zealand-likely-big-tourism-drawcard-astronomer-says\/6CHZMU5V5RHCRGPSUW5EGR4RKM\/\">another total lunar eclipse until 2028<\/a>, and we are among the few locations able to watch the entire event unfold over the Pacific. Only an estimated 2% of Earth\u2019s population will be able to view this eclipse from beginning to end.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"nfOBuVOCysHhj\" style=\"display:none\">MetService meteorologist Katie Lyons said at this stage, there was \u201creasonably good news\u201d in that the weather was expected to be settled across much of the country when the eclipse is due to happen.<\/p>\n<p class=\"nfOBuVOCysHhj\" style=\"display:none\">However, because it was happening in the middle of the night and overnight cloud was a possibility, viewing could be obscured.<\/p>\n<p class=\"nfOBuVOCysHhj\" style=\"display:none\">It was too early to tell what may be the best places across Aotearoa to view the eclipse \u2013 with viewers urged to check the forecast closer to the time.<\/p>\n<p class=\"nfOBuVOCysHhj\" style=\"display:none\">According to Nasa, the totality of the eclipse will also be visible in eastern Asia, Australia, the Pacific, and North and Central America.<\/p>\n<p class=\"nfOBuVOCysHhj\" style=\"display:none\">Partial visibility will be visible from central Asia and much of South America \u2013 but it will not be visible in Africa or Europe.<\/p>\n<p class=\"nfOBuVOCysHhj\" style=\"display:none\">\u2013 RNZ<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The total eclipse \u2013 also known as a \u201cBlood Moon\u201d \u2013 will happen just after midnight on Wednesday,&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":297325,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[2246,163823,35934,5676,123697,6871,9876,117,111,43,139,69,1118,2847,7248,61,3940,80],"class_list":{"0":"post-297324","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-zealand","8":"tag-2246","9":"tag-clent","10":"tag-danielle","11":"tag-eclipse","12":"tag-frontrow","13":"tag-has","14":"tag-lunar","15":"tag-new","16":"tag-new-zealand","17":"tag-news","18":"tag-newzealand","19":"tag-nz","20":"tag-of","21":"tag-only","22":"tag-seat","23":"tag-to","24":"tag-total","25":"tag-zealand"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/297324","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=297324"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/297324\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/297325"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=297324"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=297324"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=297324"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}