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Kota Kinabalu: Sky observers in Sabah have had the rare opportunity to witness a red-orange blood moon. "and Mars or the red planet appearing next to each other in the second total lunar eclipse this year since January 1.
Social media, too, collapsed in the early hours of the day with updates of the rare phenomenon and some even tried to capture it using smartphone cameras.
The total eclipse lasted 1 hour 43 minutes, making it the longest total lunar eclipse of the 21st century.
A total lunar eclipse occurs when the sun, the earth and the moon are lined up and the moon enters the shadow of the Earth – the darkest and central part of the shadow of the Earth.
The moon went from white to reddish hue and then returned to its original color over a period of five hours.
The penumbral eclipse (the lighter outer part of the Earth's shadow (twilight) was moving across the moon) started at 1.14am with the maximum eclipse (total mid-point ) at 4.21am and the penumbral eclipse (the penumbra moved away from the Moon) ended at 7:28.
The Malays were fortunate to witness the show, but only certain places in the country – Kota Kinabalu, Kuala Terengganu, Johor Bahru, Kuala Lumpur and Langkawi – witnessed the seven phases of the eclipse . Mars shined all night as it was at its closest point to the Earth since 2003 – visible as a "bright red star" when the sky was clear.
Mars seemed unusually large and brilliant, barely 57.7 million kilometers (35.9 million miles) from Earth in its elliptical orbit around the sun.
A total lunar eclipse occurs when the Earth takes a position in a straight line between the moon and the sun, erasing the direct sunlight that normally makes our satellite bright yellow-yellow.
The moon moves to a similar position every month, but the tilt of its orbit means that it normally goes above or below the Earth's shadow – so most months we have a full moon without eclipse.
When the three celestial bodies are perfectly aligned, however, the Earth's atmosphere diffuses blue light from the sun while refracting or bending the red light on the moon, usually giving it a pink blush.
As of January 31 of this year, astronomers were treated to a rare celestial spectacle of a three-in-one phenomenon: a "blue moon" (the second full moon of the month), a supermoon (the Moon is closer to Earth in its orbit) and a "moon of blood" (a total lunar eclipse).
The phenomenon dubbed the "super blue blood moon" was last seen in 1866.
Those who missed this event can still catch it on December 31, 2028 and January 31, 2037. – Ricardo Unto
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