Lunar Eclipse: How the Sunset of the Earth Would Look Like the Moon

A total lunar eclipse occurs when the Earth glides in front of the sun to project a red-orange to deep-red shadow on the moon.

That is why the astronomical event is often called a blood moon. People in the eastern hemisphere of the Earth can see the longest lunar eclipse of the 21st century starting at 7:30 pm UT on Friday, July 27th.

However, imagine that you are an astronaut who lies on the surface of the moon during a total lunar eclipse, and you look at the house. What would you see?

NASA's Science Visualization Studio illustrated the answer to this question with an animated video.

For someone on the moon during a lunar eclipse, the Earth would seem to be surrounded by a bright red fire circle.

The above image is taken from the Animation of NASA. The appearance of the Earth and the Moon during the total lunar eclipse that occurred on September 27, 2015.

But apart from the position of the terrestrial continents, the lunar eclipse this week will appear more or less the same according to the lunar perspective.

Here's why.

Which gives total lunar eclipses a red-orange color

Total lunar eclipses and total solar eclipses are essentially the reverse of each other.

However, their appearances are very different (whether you observe them from Earth or its natural satellite).

During a total solar eclipse, the moon passes between the Earth and the sun, casting a small dark shadow on our planet. For those who look on Earth, the ring of sunlight surrounding the moon seems colorless because the moon does not have any atmosphere. (Atmospheres, similar to glass lenses, can refract sunlight.)

The Earth is surrounded by an air cover, and this crystalline refraction is ultimately the reason for lunar eclipses make the moon orange-red.

By volume, about 80% of the Earth's atmosphere is made up of gaseous nitrogen, or N ₂ and most of the remainder is gaseous oxygen, or O ₂ . Together, these gases take on the white light of the sun – a mix of all the colors of the spectrum – and disperse around the blue and purple colors. Human eyes are much more sensitive to bruises than to purples, which is why the sky looks blue and the sun yellow for us during the hours of the day.

During a sunset or sunrise, the sunlight reaching our eyes has gone through a lot more atmospheric gas, effectively filtering the blue and making the light orange or even red.

A similar thing happens during a lunar eclipse. The atmosphere of the Earth bends and concentrates sunlight into a cone-shaped incandescent shadow called the umbra.

The red color is never quite the same from one lunar eclipse to the other because of the natural and human activities that affect the planet. 39 atmosphere of the Earth.

"Pollution and dust in the lower atmosphere tend to tame the color of the rising or setting sun, while fine smoke particles or tiny aerosols coiled at altitude during a major volcanic eruption can give a Intense red color, "David Diner, a global scientist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, wrote in a blog in 2010.

What the earth looks like from the moon during a total lunar eclipse

About 240,000 kilometers farther on the Moon, the Earth looks amazing during a lunar eclipse.

"If you were standing on the surface of the moon during a lunar eclipse, you would see the sun set and rise behind the Earth," wrote Diner. "You would observe the sun's rays refracted and scattered as they pass through the atmosphere surrounding our planet."

On the moon, you would see the sunrise and sunset of the Earth connected together in a loop of about 25,000 miles. And on the floor around you, normally dull gray lunar dust, or regolith, would look a little red-orange.

The shadow of the Earth tinted with colors is still there – if you had enough money and a spaceship, you could fly there when you wanted it.

However, the Moon's slightly inclined orbit means that it only crosses the shadows of our planet twice every 11 months.

Where and when to see the total lunar eclipse on Friday

The next eclipse will occur during what's called a "micro" moon – the opposite of a super Moon. This occurs because the moon 's orbit is not perfectly circular, so it seems larger at times and smaller at others during its orbit of about 29 days around. of the earth. In this case, it will seem a little smaller.

North America will have no luck during the lunar eclipse, since the moon will be under the horizon. You can still watch the phenomenon on a live webcast, however.

If the weather is favorable, most of East Africa, the Middle East and Central Asia should see the total lunar eclipse and total. Scientists in Antarctica should also have a magnificent view.

Europe, East Asia, Australia, Indonesia and other regions will enjoy a partial lunar eclipse, where the moon passes partly through the shadow of the Earth.

L & # 39 Partial eclipse begins when the moon first touches the semi-darkness or the outer shadow of the Earth. According to NASA, this should happen at 17:14 GMT on July 27th.

The total eclipse – when the moon is entirely inside the Earth's red ombra – begins at 7:30 pm and ends at 9:13 pm. UTAH. It's an hour full 43 minutes, which is just four minutes of the longest total lunar eclipse possible, according to EarthSky.

The partial eclipse will resume immediately after, as the moon begins to leave the shadow of the Earth. The full event will be finished at 23:28 UTC (which could be technically early on July 28, depending on where you live).

See the animation of NASA below a lunar total lunar eclipse.