A shadow of the Earth | informante

We are never really immobile. At any time, we are circling the earth at 460 meters per second, the Earth is circling the sun at 108,000 km / h and the sun is circling the galactic center at a speed of 828,000 km / h. Even the moon rushes around the Earth in its orbit at 3,660 kilometers per hour.

Throughout this movement, sometimes, we have a rare event. When everything aligns to create a spectacular view. And that, dear reader, will be Friday evening, July 27, 2018. At 19h4, the moon will begin its penumbral eclipse. He will begin to enter the shadow of the earth, or partial shade. Seen from the Moon, it will appear as a partial solar eclipse, as the Earth begins to darken part of the sun.

D here 20:24, a partial eclipse will begin. Parts of the moon will begin to enter the shadow of the earth. If you are on this part of the moon, it will appear as a solar eclipse has begun – with the earth completely covering the moon. However, unlike a solar eclipse seen from the earth, the solar eclipse seen from the moon is a little different.

The Earth, unlike the Moon, has an atmosphere, which means that sunlight is not cut off abruptly at the edges like the moon when it causes a solar eclipse. Sunlight is diffracted and scattered by the earth's atmosphere, producing a faint glow of the moon. The scattering of light, known as Rayleigh, is also the reason why the sky is blue – the atmosphere diffuse much more light at lower wavelength than light at length. higher wave, like the red ones

. the reds and oranges, and this means that as sunlight refracted around the earth to the moon is dispersed, the blue / violet part of the spectrum is scattered in the Earth's atmosphere. The reds and oranges, however, reach the moon and give it a reddish color. The result – a blood moon, as we call it.

At 9:30 pm, the moon will have moved in its entirety in the umbrella shadow of the earth. No matter where you are on the moon, you would see a total solar eclipse, with the landscape lit only by the terrestrial light that refracts around our planet. The moon is completely obscured by the earth. But it's a unique confluence of events, you remember?

At this time of year, the earth is near its peak, having reached its aphelion (the farthest point of the sun in its orbit) on July 6th. As a result, the shadow of the earth is larger than usual. The moon, however, also reaches its peak at the same time, which means that it moves comparatively more slowly around its orbit, and as a result moves more slowly through the earth's shadow. But wait, there is more! In this specific lunar eclipse, the moon is also in direct opposition to the sun, which means that it will move through the center of the Earth's shadow. Once taken together, this means that this lunar eclipse will be the longest of this century – it will remain in the shadow of the Earth for 1 hour and 43 minutes, just before the theoretical maximum of 1 hour and 47 minutes.

reaches the point of maximum eclipse, with the moon directly in the center of the earth's shadow. Now would be the right time to look for something else – Mars. On July 27, Mars will be at its closest to the land in 15 years. She, and the earth, will be in a straight line with the sun, which means that Mars will be the brightest. And when the moon is eclipsed, Mars will be the brightest star near it, only 57.6 million kilometers away.

At 11:13 pm on Friday night, the total eclipse will end. Parts of the moon will emerge in the penumbral shadow of the earth, and during the next hour it will slowly become more visible, while its red glow will fade. Around 00h19, the moon will be entirely in the shadow of the penumbral, and around 1:28, the moon will shine again at full brightness.

Just a warning, though. The moon has long been the subject of the greatest optical illusion of history. Photographs and visual inspections make the moon look bigger than it actually is – and this has been for thousands of years. In reality, the moon in the sky is still the size of the nail of your little finger when it is held at arm's length, no matter how it comes to the horizon, or its aspect on the photos. It always appears the same size in the sky as the sun, in fact. But that's a subject for another day. So, on Friday night, take a walk outside. See the splendor of the sky in all its splendor, and revel in the majesty of the universe, revealing to you a special and unique part of you.