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This Friday, two extraordinary constellations in the night sky can be observed in Germany: The longest total lunar eclipse of the 21st century is imminent and Mars is as close to Earth as it is rarely.
The full moon is lit July 27 in Germany only after the beginning of the lunar eclipse. Moonrise takes place in Berlin at 8:58 pm, in Hamburg at 9:17 pm, in Cologne at 9:18 pm, in Leipzig at 8:57 pm and in Munich at 8:57 pm. "It's just redder and darker," says astronomer Carolin Liefke of the House of Astronomy in Heidelberg. "It can be clearly seen that this seems different from the usual."
Mars gets up one hour after the moon, but is not as big and appears very bright in the reddish light. At the height of the lunar eclipse at 22:22, the Moon and Mars are still above the horizon. At the end of the eclipse at 23:13, they are much higher. It is then night and the two celestial bodies appear reddish in the sky.
Here you can see the lunar eclipse the best
Many observatories, planetariums, astronomical badociations and research institutes invite you to watch the show. "The lunar eclipse ends shortly after midnight, but we can see Mars all night," says the Sternfreunde Association in Heppenheim in southern Hesse.
If you want to observe the lunar eclipse, you should look for a southeasterly granted place and far enough away from cities and other light sources. Moreover, since the moon is low above the horizon, a cloudless sky is particularly important.
The chances of seeing the spectacle of heaven are not bad. According to the current forecast of the German weather service, it is only slightly cloudy in the night of Saturday, if at all. In many areas, meteorologists expect a clear night. Only at the border with the showers of the Benelux countries are announced for Saturday morning. But the lunar eclipse is already over.
However, if you want the best view of the sky show, you must travel. In southeastern central Europe, for example in Vienna, the lunar eclipse is a little better to see because the moon rises there 30 minutes earlier than in Germany. However, the populations of southern Africa and the islands of the Indian Ocean have the best chance
This time, the total lunar eclipse is particularly long: the moon is completely immersed in the water. shadow of the Earth for one hour and 43 minutes. This duration of the lunar eclipse will only be exceeded by three minutes on June 9, 2123.
"Mars is the Star"
An extraordinary view of Mars can be found here. He is in opposition, therefore with the earth and the sun on a line, and is overtaken by the earth on the inner path. This constellation occurs on average every 15 years, most recently in 2003. In addition, Mars is only about 58 million kilometers from the Earth this Friday – the minimum distance. In the sky, he will be particularly bright and relatively tall.
Mars is farther from the sun than the earth. Unlike these, he does not need it in his train, but almost two years to go around the sun. The distance from Mars to the Sun varies considerably: at its furthest point, it is about 250 million kilometers, and on the other side of the sun a little more than 200 million kilometers.
Repeat only every 105,000 years
That such a lunar eclipse and such a favorable constellation of Mars fall on a night is extremely rare. An information page on the lunar eclipse calculated: On average, the event repeats itself in this form every 105,000 years.
Not only the moon and Mars are clearly visible in the sky. Jupiter and Saturn are also visible. As soon as it's dark, they shine in the evening sky, says astronomer Liefke. "But Mars is the star."
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