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View of a lunar eclipse on Sugarloaf Mountain in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. – AFP Photo
PARIS: The longest "blood moon" eclipse of this century dazzled skygazers around the world on Friday, coinciding with the closest approach to Mars in 15 years in a celestial show thrilling
Next to Lake Magadi, 100 kilometers southwest of the Kenyan capital Nairobi, young members of the Maasai community watched the eclipse through a high-power telescope provided by a "high-powered" telescope. At present, I thought that Mars, Jupiter and the other planets were in the imagination of scientists, "AFP Purity Sailepo, 16, told AFP.
"But now I've seen it, I can believe it and I want to be an astronomer to tell others."
Unlike a solar eclipse, the audience did not need to protective glasses to observe the rare exposure.
For about half of the world, the moon was partially or entirely Earth shadow from 1714 to 2328 GMT – six hours and 14 minutes in all
The complete eclipse period – known as & ## 39, all, when the moon appears the darkest – lasted from 1930 to 2113 GMT.
Mars, hovered near the moon in the night sky, easily visible to the naked eye.
Southern Hemisphere amateur astronomers were in the best position to observe this rare spectacle, especially in southern Africa, Australia and Madagascar. also visible in Europe, South Asia and South America.
More than 2,000 people, including many children armed with twins, gathered in the Tunisian capital of Tunis
"I hope this eclipse will bring us happiness and peace" "[19659003] However, bad weather thwarted cosmic exposure in many parts of the world
Generalized monsoon storms and heavy clouds hid the moon across much of India and South Africa. its neighbors, should have had a pr Similarly, enthusiastic observers who had gathered on the cliffs and beaches of the English county of Dorset were left in the dark because of a cloudy sky
"It's disappointing," said 67-year-old Tish Adams. "I took some pictures but there was only a trail of roses in the sky."
Meanwhile, a frustrated crowd of moon worshipers gathered on a hill in North London, consoling themselves by performing a Welsh singer Bonnie Tyler's hit, 'total eclipse of the heart &' # 39; in 1983.
Those in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil were luckier, slamming the red moon in the clear night sky with their phones and cameras
Talita Oliveira, 34 years old.
Mars seemed unusually large and brilliant, just 57.7 million kilometers from Earth in its elliptical orbit around the sun.
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 whitish-yellow.
The moon moves each month to a similar position but the t normally passes above or below the Earth's shadow – most months, so we have a full moon without eclipse.
When the three celestial bodies are perfectly aligned, the atmosphere of the Earth diffuses the blue light. the sun refracting or bending the red light on the moon, usually giving it a pinkish blush.
This is what gives the phenomenon the name of "blood moon", although Mark Bailey of the Armagh Observatory in Northern Ireland says that the color can vary a lot.
It depends in part on the transparency or transparency of parts of the earth's atmosphere that allow sunlight to reach the moon
"During a very dark eclipse, the moon can to be almost invisible. "
The long duration of this eclipse was partly due to the fact that the moon was making a nearly central passage through the shadow of the Earth – the darkest and most central part of the shadow. Sv in Melchert, head of a local society of astronomy enthusiasts in Heppenheim, West Germany, quoted by the DPA news agency
The moon was also at its the farthest point of the Earth, making its movement slower. perspective, 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 that were true, we would be in big The problem was caused by the gravitational force on Earth, Mars and our moon! ", said the NASA website.
Mars appeared as a bright star
"In the midst of a lunar eclipse, The planet took up its quarters near Earth – they are both mysterious and beautiful," said Robert Massey of the Royal Astronomical Society in London. – AFP
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