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The moon will be completely darkened Friday night. From mid-evening, the so-called "blood moon" will be visible. "The moon arrives tomorrow at 21:30, but is not yet visible because of the sunlight," says astronomer Floris van der Tak of the University of Groningen
For the moment it's dark with us, the moon will be completely darkened too. This lasts until 23:14. With an hour and three quarters of an hour, it will be the longest lunar eclipse of this century.
Lunar eclipses are rarer than solar eclipses, with a maximum of three per year. The last lunar eclipse took place in 2015. The next eclipse of Friday is scheduled for January 2019.
In a line
"The lunar eclipse takes place because the sun, the earth and the moon – in that order – at that time a line, "says Esther Hanko, astronomer at the University of Amsterdam. At the eclipse, the moon is thus completely in the shadow of the earth
With a regular full moon, the three are almost in line, but because they are not fully synchronized the One with the other, this does not lead to a complete eclipse. Van der Tak says
In a solar eclipse the sun is not visible, in a lunar eclipse the moon is, despite the fact that the moon is protected by the earth. "He colors in red," says Van der Tak, "because the sunlight is diverted into our atmosphere, in the direction of the moon." Because the moon turns red, the phenomenon is also called "blood moon".
The deviation of sunlight is also called rayleigh scattering. Because the red color has a longer wavelength, it is not easily affected by our atmosphere. This makes him reach the moon and colors it red. "We see the same effect in our air," says Hanko, "our atmosphere allows the blue color to pass through, which gives the air that color."
Good view
Unless the weather is cloudy, the moon will be beautiful to see on Friday because it looks very big right now. Ironically, it's not because the moon is near. "The moon is currently the farthest from the earth," says Hanko. "It's the mini-moon." That the moon is clearly visible, according to Hanko because she's close to the horizon.
The darkened moon is for everyone, there is no telescope needed. Looking at the moon at the naked eye is not dangerous. The moon is clearly visible everywhere in the Netherlands. "Of course, you have the best view of the moon when there is no air pollution," says Van der Tak, "but from the big city, you always have a good vision of the lunar eclipse. "
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