A lunar eclipse will begin about 3.15am on Australia's east coast, but you'll need to be patient while waiting for the moon to darken and turn red as it moves into the Earth's shadow.

“You’ll need to wait another two hours or so, from about 5.30am, before you can see a total eclipse, when the moon will start to turn red,” Australian National University astronomer Dr Brad Tucker said.

The total lunar eclipse is expected to last one hour and 43 minutes, just four minutes short of what NASA says is the maximum possible length.

Canberrans won't be able to catch the whole show, however, because the moon will set before the total eclipse finishes.

Western Australia will be the only Australian state or territory to see the entire event.

“People on the east coast will not see the moon leave the [Earth's] shadow,” Dr Tucker said.

Total lunar eclipses happen when Earth moves between the sun and the moon, completely blocking direct sunlight from reaching the moon.

Dr Tucker said the moon's red colour came from light that skimmed through the Earth's atmosphere and went off into space.

“You will see the sunrise and sunset of the Earth lighting up the surface of the moon – over 350,000 kilometres away," he said.

“If you were on the moon, you would see a total solar eclipse as the Earth would be blocking the sun.”

The total lunar eclipse comes just over six months after another rare celestial event that was visible in Canberra.

On January 31, three rare celestial events - a super moon, a blood moon and a full lunar eclipse - converged to create a "super blue blood moon" for the first time in Australia since 1982.

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