By DayakDaily Team
KUCHING, Sept 2: A spectacular ‘Blood Moon’ will illuminate the skies during a total lunar eclipse on Sept 7-8, 2025, and Sarawakians will be among those able to witness the rare celestial event from start to finish.
The Malaysian Space Agency (MYSA), in a Facebook post, stated that observation programmes will be held nationwide at designated locations across several states from 11pm on Sept 7 until 5am on Sept 8, subject to weather conditions. All members of the public are invited to join.
In Sarawak, viewing sessions will take place at Pusat Falak Miri, Pusat Falak Bintulu, and Institut Kemahiran Islam Sarawak (IKMAS), organised by the Sarawak Mufti Department.
According to MYSA, the phenomenon will take place 2.7 days before the Moon reaches its closest distance to Earth (perigee) at 364,773 kilometres, appearing larger with a size of 33.4 arc minutes.
“This eclipse is also referred to as a ‘Blood Moon’ because the Moon will appear reddish during the total eclipse phase.
“This phenomenon will be visible to people across Europe, Africa, Asia, Australia, and New Zealand,” MYSA explained.
A lunar eclipse happens when the Earth is positioned between the Sun and the Moon, casting Earth’s shadow over the Moon. At the peak of the total lunar eclipse, the Moon will appear red or orange due to the refraction of sunlight by the Earth’s atmosphere.
The penumbral eclipse begins at 11.28pm on Sept 7, followed by the partial eclipse at 12.26am on Sept 8. The Moon enters full eclipse at 1.30am, with maximum eclipse at 2.11am. It will then start exiting Earth’s shadow from 2.53am, and fully emerge by 3.56am, with the penumbral phase ending at 4.55am.
“In Malaysia, the Moon will remain above the horizon throughout the eclipse. Therefore, if weather conditions are favourable, the entire eclipse phase can be observed with the naked eye and aided by instruments such as binoculars or telescopes,” the agency said.
Other viewing locations nationwide include Planetarium Negara, several observatories in the Klang Valley, Dataran Masjid Putra in Putrajaya, Balai Cerap Negeri Sembilan in Negeri Sembilan, Masjid Al-Azim in Melaka, Kurau Inn Farmstay in Perak, The Wheel Estate Campsite in Perlis, Pulau Betong Observatory and Masjid Negeri Pulau Pinang in Penang, MAHA Tower in Langkawi and Muzium Kota Kuala Kedah in Kedah, as well as public observation events in Kelantan, Terengganu, and Sabah.
One of the highlights will be at MAHA Tower in Langkawi, where a special viewing programme will run from 10pm on Sept 7, until 5am on Sept 8, in collaboration with Tourism Malaysia, and streamed live on Facebook.
“We invite members of the public to join us at the observation sites to experience this rare astronomical event together,” MYSA said. — DayakDaily
