Longest complete lunar eclipse of 21st century is almost here

The longest and largest lunar eclipse of this century will occur this coming Friday and will dye the moon an intense reddish orange color for a period of more than 100 minutes, according to NASA sources specialized in this kind of events.

Goddard Space Flight Center

This particular eclipse will not be visible from North America, according to Noah Petro, a scientist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center who has issued the main comments about this event to the media on behalf of NASA.

The CVEG has the largest organization of scientists and engineers dedicated to expanding knowledge about the Earth, the solar system, and the universe according to observations made from space. This important American laboratory is dedicated to developing and operating unmanned scientific satellites with which it collects all the information that passes to form its general studies.

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Where can we see it?

People keen to observe the stars in the areas near the Middle East, East or South Africa, or the west and southeast of Asia and India, will be able to observe the whole celestial show as long as the weather, in the area where they are, let them.

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In those particular areas, the entire eclipse where the moon will retain its characteristic bright red color will last one hour with 42 minutes. The total event, from its beginning, when the moon passes through the stratosphere of our planet, will last approximately 6 hours and 13 minutes.

How to observe it perfectly?

People living in Australia can enjoy this show as the moon sets in the sky, and residents of eastern Brazil and western Europe can see it as the moon slowly rises to the sky and show its particular colors within the more than 6 hours.

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Petro suggests to people who want to observe the show in the best possible place to rent a boat with which they can sail to the middle of the Indian Ocean or visit an acquaintance in Ethiopia to have the "best seat in the house" and fully enjoy the eclipse.

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How long will it last?

For US residents, the eclipse will start around 1:14 p.m. and the maximum period in which the eclipse will be at its fullest will be around 4:21 p.m., which means that it will be too much light to actually enjoy the event.

Although the people of the United States of America will not be able to directly observe the lunar eclipse, they may still be excited because the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter - NASA's robotic spacecraft that orbits the moon - will experience it and transmit it to the Earth.

The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter

This device, known as LRO, was launched in June 2009 with the purpose of providing different detailed maps of the lunar surface to identify possible landing sites on the moon for future robotic or manned explorations.

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Petro says that the moon still has a lot of secrets that we need to really understand how our solar system works and what the effects of the moon are on our planet and on the rest of the stars around us.

50th Anniversary of the Apollo 11

This opportunity is favorable for Americans to become enthusiastic about the moon and its characteristics. NASA will soon begin celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 flight, in which astronauts, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin, became the first 2 people on the moon.

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The next total lunar eclipse that will be visible in North America will occur on January 21, 2019, according to NASA. It will also be considered a supermoon, which is the case in which a new moon or full moon coincides with the time when the moon is at its closest point to the planet.

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According to Petro, a partial eclipse, which many people consider to be "as if someone had bitten the moon", will be visible in the US for July 2019. This implies that the southern half of the moon will pass through the shadow of planet earth.

What is a blood moon?

The blood moon is a term used mainly to refer to the total eclipses of the moon, which is when the moon is totally obscured when passing between the earth and the sun, which makes very little light reach directly to the surface of the moon and cause this particular effect.

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The total eclipses are given the nickname "blood" because of the beautiful reddish hue caused by the projection of all the sunrises and sunsets of the planet on the surface of the moon, according to Petro's words, in January of this year during the previous supermoon of blood.

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Lunar eclipse

The Moon, which is generally a bright tone due to the reflection of sunlight on its surface that allows us to appreciate it in all its splendor, can have different intensities because it depends on the sun. Sometimes we see it small, sometimes bigger, and we can even observe it in its different stages.

However, it is very strange to see the moon red, although sometimes it happens. This Friday will be one of these occasions, the lunar eclipse will allow us to see it in this color and it will give us a unique opportunity to admire the unique and main satellite that accompanies us everywhere.

The moon of blood

One of the strangest, but most interesting to see, phenomena is the lunar eclipse. During this particular phenomenon, the Moon passes behind the earth, obscuring it. However, the Earth's atmosphere scatters all the blue and green light, leaving only red.

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During the eclipse, the moon passes through the shadow of the Earth, and instead of receiving sunlight directly, it will receive the red glow of our atmosphere. Because of this is that the eclipse shows us a very different moon to which we are accustomed, a phenomenon that many call moon of blood.

The shadow of the Earth

During this next eclipse, the Earth and the Moon will be fully aligned, forming this phenomenon where the moon will be completely red, and coinciding with the maximum approach of the planet Mars to Earth at the same time, which is even more surprising this time.

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The shadow of the Earth has two parts: the umbra and the penumbra. Although a small part of the sunlight reaches the penumbra and this allows to light very slightly the surface of the satellite, the umbra does not receive any of these rays. The eclipse is about the passage of the Moon through the umbra, which covers it completely.

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The power of the blood moon

However, it is never completely dark, or never completely black, because the atmosphere redirects the rays of the sun that bounce off our planet, allowing the red color to pass through it and give that particular hue to the moon.

Due to how rare this phenomenon is on our planet, many people associate it with esoteric or supernatural effects on the planet or on people. Many people speak of a particular effect according to the zodiacal signs, but the truth is that it depends a lot on the personal belief of each one.

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Would you like to experience this heavenly event? Unfortunately, if you live in the United States you cannot really enjoy it, but anyone from another country who has the opportunity to appreciate this heavenly event should not miss the opportunity because it is a sight worth remembering.

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