The world turns to the sky as the "moon of blood" eclipse begins :: Kenya

The longest "blood moon" eclipse began this Friday, coinciding with the closest approach to March in 15 years. Treat skygazers around the world for an exciting celestial show.

Unlike a solar eclipse, viewers do not need goggles to observe the rare exposure.

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Get ready for the longest lunar eclipse

"All you have to do is … get out!" the Royal Astronomical Society (RAS) in London said, adding that binoculars would be useful to observe the phenomenon.

For about half of the world, the moon will be partially or totally in the shadow of the Earth from 17:14 to 23:28 GMT – six hours and 14 minutes in total.

The complete eclipse period – known as the "totality", when the moon appears the darkest – will last from 1930 to 2113 GMT.

At the same time, Mars will hover near the moon in the night sky, easily visible to the naked eye.

Southern Hemisphere amateur astronomers will be in the best position to enjoy the show, especially in Southern Africa, Australia, India and Madagascar, but it will also be partially visible in Europe and South America .

Beside Lake Magadi, 100 kilometers southwest of the Kenyan capital Nairobi, Susan Murabana and Chu Owen set up their high power telescope for the local community to follow the event.

The isolated lake is far from urban light pollution, making it the perfect place to observe the planet.

Young people – some in traditional Maasai outfits and armed with Alemic daggers – gathered around him, laughing and pointing to the bright white moon.

"It's good to give people who otherwise would not have the opportunity to use a telescope like this an opportunity," said 39-year-old Murabana.

Purity Sailepo, 16, said that she had been inspired by the telescope's visit to become an astronomer

"Until today, I thought Mars, Jupiter and the other planets were in the imagination of scientists," she told AFP.

"But now I've seen it I can believe it and I want to be an astronomer to tell others."

The website www.timeanddate.com also offers the exact locations and timing of the eclipse as it moves from Friday to Saturday.

– Celestial bodies aligned –

Our next planet will appear unusually large and bright, barely 57.7 million kilometers (35.9 million miles) from Earth in its elliptical orbit around the sun.

"We have a rare and interesting conjunction of phenomena," Pascal Descamps, an astronomer at the Paris Observatory, told AFP.

"We should have a copper-red hue on the moon with Mars '' Red Planet '' just next, very bright and with a slight orange hue itself."

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 – the most months, we have a full moon without eclipse.

When the three celestial bodies are perfectly aligned, however, the atmosphere of the Earth diffuses blue light from the sun while refracting or bending the red light on the moon, usually giving it a pink blush.

This is what gives the phenomenon the name of "blood moon", although Mark Bailey of the Armagh Observatory in Northern Ireland has said that the color can vary considerably.

It depends in part on "the haze or transparency of those parts of the Earth's atmosphere that allow sunlight to reach the moon," he said at the time of the day. ; AFP.

"During a very dark eclipse, the moon can be almost invisible.

The long duration of this eclipse is partly due to the fact that the moon will make a nearly central pbad through the shadow of the Earth – the darkest and most central part of the shadow.

– "Eres and beautiful" –

Our constant companion will also be at the furthest point from Earth's orbit, making its movement across the sky slower from our point of view, thus spending more time in the dark.

NASA, meanwhile, denounced the hoaxes of social media claiming that Mars would appear as big as the moon during the eclipse.

"If it were true, we would be in great trouble considering the gravitational effects on Earth, Mars and our moon!" the NASA website said.

Mars will most likely appear as a very bright star.
"In the midst of a lunar eclipse, one may have the impression that a red planet has taken up residence near Earth – they are both mysterious and beautiful," said Robert Mbadey of the RAS.