All you need to know about the total lunar eclipse July 2018

The sight of a celestial object floating in our sky is an amazing sight – and in a few days you will see another cosmic spectacle.

As the sun begins to decline next week, the moon will become a spectacular shadow of red as a total lunar eclipse takes place.

The good news is that this phenomenon – also known as the blood moon – will be the longest in the 21st century, reports Birmingham Live.

If the weather is nice and the sky clear, we could be in a real treat.

Here's everything you need to know.

What will be the next total eclipse?

The total lunar eclipse will take place on Friday, July 27th.

It should be the longest lunar eclipse of the 21st century because the moon is at one of its farthest points of the earth, making it look smaller – this will mean that one more much of its surface will be obscured than usually in an eclipse.

A lunar eclipse occurs when the moon moves to the opposite side of the earth from the sun. It is then in the shadow of the earth

During this type of eclipse, the moon will darken gradually but it will not disappear completely in the dark – it will instead take on a hue coppery or reddish. This is popularly known as the blood moon.

What's a blood moon? Why does the moon become red during a lunar eclipse?

Some people think that it is a sign of apocalypse, but it is a purely scientific phenomenon.

The moon does not create any light – it shines because its surface reflects sunlight.

Here's the science:

During a total lunar eclipse, the Earth blocks the sun's light and the moon's surface takes on a red or orange glow. But why?

This is due to an effect called Rayleigh Scattering. The same phenomenon creates red sunrises and sunsets and makes the blue sky

This is caused by the way the sun's rays sometimes bounce when & # 39; They are moving towards us. Short wavelengths like purple and blue are scattered when they hit the atmosphere, while longer wavelengths such as red and orange go on to across the Earth.

The red and orange light is then refracted or bent around the Earth and strikes the moon on the other side, giving it this strange color.] 19659002] Or, if that was too much science for you, you could just watch the teacher in this video explaining it perfectly how it goes.

So where will this eclipse be visible?

Astronomers say that the eclipse will be visible in most of Europe, Africa, West and Central Asia, the Indian Ocean and from Western Australia. People in Gloucestershire can first see the eclipse occur at 9 pm on July 27 as the Earth 's shadow moves to the moon.

The eclipse actually begins to occur before – from 18:14 – but the moon will be below the horizon, so we will not be able to see it until later

We'll see when the eclipse reaches maximum or all at 21:21. you will need to make sure you have an unobstructed view to the southeast.

The total eclipse ends at 10:13 pm but the episode of eclipse will end at 12:28 pm on Saturday, July 28th. This is a visible eclipse of 3 hours 28 minutes

A similar visibility of the eclipse will be observed in other parts of the United Kingdom. In London, people will see it from 20:39 and Manchester from 21:06 [19659002] The duration of the total eclipse will be 1h 43 minutes – the longest of this century.

When is the next total lunar eclipse?

The next total lunar eclipse we can see from the UK will not be before January 19, 2019. [19659063] [ad_2]
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