The blood red moon of a total lunar eclipse will glow like an ember on Tuesday night.

As the Earth passes between the sun and the moon on March 3, the Earth will cast a shadow on the moon in a rare, hours-long sky show.

That period when the moon is fully engulfed in the Earth’s red shadow — known as totality — will last one hour and be visible everywhere in Australia.

At least part of the partial eclipse — the phase on either side of totality, when the creeping shadow appears like a bite taken out of the moon — will also visible across the country.

But sky gazers on the east coast will be the only ones who can catch every single moment of the eerie phenomenon.

They will additionally catch the penumbral eclipse, which is the more subtle, hour-long phase on either side of the partial eclipse, when the moon enters the Earth’s shadow, and begins to dim.

Here is everything you need to know.

When and where to catch the eclipse

In Sydney, Canberra and Melbourne and Hobart, the penumbral eclipse begins at 7.44pm and the partial eclipse begins at 8.50pm.

Totality on the east coast will lasts from 10.04pm to 11.04pm.

For Queensland, because of the time difference, that partial eclipse begins at 7.50pm, and totality can be seen from 9.04pm to 10.04pm.

In Adelaide, the partial eclipse begins at 8.20pm, and totality can be seen from 9.34pm.

In Perth, totality will be visible in Perth from 7.04pm to 8.03pm.

Australian National University astrophysicist Brad Tucker told 7NEWS.com.au that, due to the later sunset in Western Australia, the state “will miss the beginning of the partial eclipse as the moon goes into the (Earth’s) shadow.”

“But they will see the moon leave the shadow.”

The early evening eclipse makes this one a great one for children across Australia to catch, Tucker said.

But with heavy rains lashing much of Australia for the next week, there is a chance that cloud cover could obscure the sky show in some locations. Time and Date will live stream the eclipse, so those who miss it in the sky can see it on their screens.

Why does the moon turn red?

While the Earth blocks most sunlight from reaching the moon during an eclipse, some of the light manages to filter through the Earth’s atmosphere.

“Sunlight appears white, but it actually contains a rainbow of components,” NASA said.

“Blue light scatters relatively easily as it passes through Earth’s atmosphere. Reddish light, on the other hand, travels more directly through the air.”

This process — called Rayleigh scattering — happens because blueish colours are made of shorter wavelengths that are scattered by atmospheric particles. The long wavelengths of reddish light helps it to pass through the atmosphere.

“The more dust or clouds in Earth’s atmosphere during the eclipse, the redder the moon will appear,” NASA said.

It is similar to a sunset, when the sun is lower to the horizon and its light travels on a lower-angled pathway through the Earth’s atmosphere, during which its blue components scatter.

During a lunar eclipse, NASA described the phenomenon “as if all of the world’s sunrises and sunsets are projected onto the moon”.

How rare is a lunar eclipse?

Lunar eclipses are quite rare but feel even more so because only half of the globe can ever witness an eclipse at once.

While there is another lunar eclipse in later August, it will not be visible from Australia.

When Australians next witness a lunar eclipse, it is sure to be quite the spectacle.

“The next lunar eclipse in Australia will be New Year’s Eve 2028 into New Year’s Day morning,” Tucker said.

Tucker said that solar eclipses are “much rarer” than lunar eclipses and added that skygazers can expect to see daylight disappear in the skies over Sydney during a solar eclipse in July 2028.