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NAIROBI / ABU DHABI (Reuters) – Star-studded astronomers from around the world searched Friday for a glimpse of the red moon as Earth's natural satellite shifted into the shadow of our planet for the longest lunar eclipse of the 21st century.
From the Cape of Good Hope in the Middle East and the Kremlin to Sydney Harbor, thousands of people turned their eyes to the stars, hoping to see the moon begin to appear orange, brown, or purple as they went the shadow of the earth.
The total eclipse will last 1 hour, 42 minutes and 57 seconds, although a partial eclipse precedes and follows, meaning that the moon will spend a total of 3 hours and 54 minutes in the shaded shadow of the Earth, according to NASA.
The most complete eclipse, at 20:22 GMT, will be visible from Europe, Russia, Africa, the Middle East, much of Asia and the United States. Australia, although clouds can block the moon.
In the Middle East, the moon rises above the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque in Abu Dhabi, while in Kenya it rises above Marabou storks nesting in the trees of Nairobi.
On the banks of the Indian Ganges, the temples were closed before the eclipse. In Singapore, amateurs have prepared telescopes at South Pier Marina.
Hundreds of people in Australia paid to watch the eclipse of the Sydney Observatory before sunrise.
"Our event is full, we have about a hundred people who are booked to come and see it with us," said Andrew Jacob, curator at the Sydney Observatory, located right next to the Harbor Bridge.
When the moon moves in the conical shadow of the earth, it goes from being lit by the sun to being dark. Some light, however, will reach it again because it is bent by the Earth's atmosphere.
Eclipse Chart tmsnrt.rs/2JP09kK
"This is called a moon of blood because the sunlight flows through the atmosphere of the earth towards the moon, and the atmosphere of the earth becomes red in the same way as when the sun goes down, it turns red "Andrew Fabian, professor of astronomy at the University of Cambridge, told Reuters.
At the same time, Mars is moving more Near the Earth that it has been since 2003, then some observers can see what looks like a red-orange star – and it's actually the red planet.
" It's a very unusual coincidence to have a total lunar eclipse and Mars to opposition in the same night ", ad Robert Massey, deputy executive director of the Royal Astronomical Society, who will attempt to look at the eclipse of the Mediterranean Sea. .
For thousands of years, man has looked upon the heavens as omens of misery, of victory, and of joy. The Bible contains references to the moon that turns the blood and some ultra-Orthodox Jews consider disturbing lunar eclipses and a cause of moral contemplation.
According to Hindu beliefs, celestial bodies such as the sun and the moon emit negative energy during an eclipse and thus some temples in India have been closed to minimize disruption.
Astronomers, however, said that there was no reason to worry.
"There is no reason to believe that blood moons predict death," Massey said. "This does not announce the apocalypse: seeing a lunar eclipse and Mars in the sky is something that people should appreciate rather than worry about."
The lunar eclipse will not be visible from North America or most of the Pacific. The next lunar eclipse of such length is due in 2123.
The longest total lunar eclipse in the 21st century – tmsnrt.rs/2JP09kK
Written by Guy Faulconbridge in London; Additional report by Dan Williams in Jerusalem; Edited by Hugh Lawson and Andrew Bolton
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