lunar eclipse 2018: why is it called "blood moon"

LONDON.- An unusual celestial conjunction will dazzle this half-world Friday: the eclipse The longest moon of the 21st century will dye our satellite red, while Mars, almost at its closest point to Earth, will shine in all its splendor.

The show can be observed with the naked eye, without need of protection with the eclipses of Sol-. "The only thing they have to do is go out," he encouraged the fans to
The Royal Astronomical Society of the United Kingdom

The eclipse, which corresponds to the moment when the Moon is submerged in the shadow of the Earth, can be seen totally or partially in half the world: Africa, Europe, Asia and Australia. It will be better appreciated in Eastern and Southern Africa, the Middle East and India. (It will not be visible from North America or most of the Pacific). The next of this long duration will take place in 2123.

At the same time, Mars will be at its closest point to the Earth since 2003, so observers will be able to see what an orange-reddish star will look like. [19659004"It'saveryunusualcasetohaveatotalshareoftheairandMarsintheopposition"hesaid"TheDeputyChiefExecutiveDirectoroftheRoyalAstronomicalSociety

" Unusual and Interesting "

Pascal Descamps, astronomer at the Paris-PSL Observatory, explains: "It is an unusual and interesting conjunction of phenomena." He badured that the Moon should be dyed red, "a little coppery", and that Mars – known as "the red planet" – will be at his side, "very bright, with a slightly orange hue".

For this to happen An eclipse of the Moon requires an almost perfect alignment between the Sun, the Earth and the Moon. So, when our planet is between the star and the satellite, it casts its shadow on the moon that darkens it.

The complete phenomenon will begin at 17:14 GMT and will end at 23:28 GMT. Around 1824 GMT, the Moon will gradually begin to appear to be "erased" from the sky. The most interesting moment of the eclipse, when the Moon is completely in the shadow cone projected by the Earth, will begin at 19:30 GMT and will end at 21:13 GMT. This phase, called the "whole phase", will last for about one hour and three quarters (103 minutes), which will be the longest eclipse of the 21st century.

"Blood Moon"

Deprived of the sun's rays, the moon darkens and takes on a brick tint: the Earth's atmosphere deflects the red rays of light from the sun into the cone of shadow, which reflect on the surface of the Earth. Andrew Fabian, a professor of astronomy at the University of Cambridge, told Reuters: "This is what is called the Blood Moon because sunlight flows through the moon. Earth's atmosphere as it moves towards the Moon and the atmosphere of the Earth makes it red in the same way that when the Sun hides itself, it turns red. "

Olivier Sanguy, from the Cité de l & Espace de Toulouse, in the south of France, explains that it is possible the brightness of the moon is obscured because "it will pbad through the center of the Earth's shadow, where there is less refracted light. "

March

The other protagonist of the night will be the planet Mars, which will be 57.6 million kilometers from Earth. We will have to wait until 2035 to see the "red planet" so close to us. At first glance, you can see a bright spot in the space, but with a telescope, it will be possible to appreciate the details.

AFP and Reuters Agencies