Longest eclipse of the 21st century on Saturday morning!
Astronomers are hoping for clear skies on Saturday morning when the longest eclipse of the 21st century works its magic in the night sky - it is expected just after 8am.
According to Nasa, the moon will be in full eclipse - or totality - for 103 minutes. But the moon will enter totality not long before setting in this country. The next such event will not happen again until 2021.The total lunar eclipse will be the result of the sun, moon and earth lining up perfectly.
HOW TO VIEW IT
- You'll need to be as far south as possible, have clear skies, and be in a location where you can see the Moon setting in the south west and the Sun rising in the north east.
- The higher you can get, the better. That's because the Sun will be barely clearing the horizon as the Moon sets in the opposite direction.
- Unfortunately, MetService is predicting Saturday will bring showers or rain in the west and south of the country, heavy for a time over the South Island.
- In Invercargill, there will be five minutes between sunrise at 8:12 and moonset shortly thereafter, with the Moon entirely within Earth's shadow.
- In Dunedin the interval is reduced to four minutes; in Christchurch, three minutes.
Read more and follow updates here.
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Some Choice News!
DOC is rolling out a new tool to help figure out what to tackle first when it comes to protecting our threatened species and the things putting them at risk.
Why does this matter? As Nikki Macdonald from The Post points out, we’re a country with around 4,400 threatened species. With limited time and funding, conservation has always meant making tough calls about what gets attention first.
For the first time, DOC has put real numbers around what it would take to do everything needed to properly safeguard our unique natural environment. The new BioInvest tool shows the scale of the challenge: 310,177 actions across 28,007 sites.
Now that we can see the full picture, it brings the big question into focus: how much do we, as Kiwis, truly value protecting nature — and what are we prepared to invest to make it happen?
We hope this brings a smile!
Have you got New Zealand's best shed? Show us and win!
Once again, Resene and NZ Gardener are on the hunt for New Zealand’s best shed! Send in the photos and the stories behind your man caves, she sheds, clever upcycled spaces, potty potting sheds and colourful chicken coops. The Resene Shed of the Year 2026 winner receives $1000 Resene ColorShop voucher, a $908 large Vegepod Starter Pack and a one-year subscription to NZ Gardener. To enter, tell us in writing (no more than 500 words) why your garden shed is New Zealand’s best, and send up to five high-quality photos by email to mailbox@nzgardener.co.nz. Entries close February 23, 2026.
Share your favourite main crop potato recipe and win a copy of our mag!
Love potatoes? We will give away free copies of the May 2026 issue to readers whose potato recipes are used in our magazine. To be in the running, make sure you email your family's favourite way to enjoy potatoes: mailbox@nzgardener.co.nz, by March 1, 2026.
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