& # 39; Blood Moon & # 39; enchants observers of the largest lunar eclipse of the 21st century

A blood-colored moon dazzled sky admirers in different parts of the world on Friday when Earth's natural satellite shifted into the shadow of our planet for the longest lunar eclipse of the 21st century. century.

From the Cape of Good Hope in the Middle East and the Kremlin to Sydney Bay, thousands of people turned their eyes to the stars to watch the moon go dark before turning orange.

The total eclipse would last an hour, 42 minutes and 57 seconds, although preceded and followed by a partial eclipse, which means that the moon would spend a total of 3 hours and 54 minutes at the same time. shadow of the Earth, according to NASA

The complete eclipse was visible from Europe, Russia, Africa, the Middle East, much of Asia and Australia, although clouds have blocked the moon. Reuters recorded the worldwide moon of the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque in Abu Dhabi at the Temple of Poseidon on Cape Sunion near Athens.

In Nairobi, Kenyans watched the moon darken. "That's what life is: magical moments with this one," said Teddy Muthusi, looking at the moon at Uhuru Park in Nairobi. "It's just beautiful, it's worth it."

On the banks of the Ganges, India, the temples were closed before the eclipse. In Singapore, enthusiasts watched through telescopes at Marina South Pier. Hundreds of people in Australia paid to observe the eclipse at the Sydney Observatory before dawn.

When the moon left the conical shadow of the Earth, it was no longer lit by the sun and became dark. Some light, however, still reaches the satellite because it is curved by the atmosphere of the Earth.

"It's called the" blood moon "because sunlight flows through the atmosphere of the Earth towards the moon and the earth's atmosphere. It turns red, just as the sun becomes red when he goes to bed, "Andrew Fabian, professor of astronomy at the University of Cambridge, told Reuters.

At the same time, Mars has been in its position closest to Earth since 2003, so some observers can see what looks like a red-orange star – and it's actually the red planet.

"It's a very unusual coincidence to have a total lunar eclipse and Mars in opposition the same night," said Robert Mbadey, deputy executive director of the Royal Astronomical Society, which observed the eclipse in the Mediterranean. For years humanity has looked to heaven behind omens of misfortunes, victories and joys. The Bible contains references to the rotating red moon, and some ultra-orthodox Jews view lunar eclipses as omens and a reason for moral contemplation.

According to some Hindu beliefs, celestial bodies such as the sun and the moon emit negative energies during an eclipse, so some temples in India are closed to minimize disturbances.

Astronomers, however, said that there was no reason for concern.

"There is no reason to believe that blood moons announce misfortunes," Mbadey said. "This does not announce the apocalypse: seeing a lunar eclipse and Mars in the sky is something that people should grasp rather than worry about."

The next lunar eclipse with such duration will be in 2123.