[ad_1]
On July 27, there is a lot to discover in the sky. Thus, on Friday night, the longest lunar eclipse of the 21st century will be exhibited. At the same time, Mars is exceptionally visible. The prerequisite is, of course, a good time. While the visibility of the lunar eclipse depends only on earthly time, cosmic luck is needed for clear vision.
The lunar eclipse begins at 8:30 pm when the full moon is already partially obscured. From the left edge, the eclipse spreads, until the moon is completely darkened at 21:30. With a duration of one hour and 43 minutes, it will be the longest lunar eclipse of the 21st century. Lunar eclipses are only at the full moon, while the god-earth occurs in the shadow of the earth.
The best view at 23.13
From 22.00 hours it will be quite dark in central Europe, as the moon as a reddish disk in the southeastern well becomes visible. The red color comes from the sunlight, which is scattered by the Earth's atmosphere to the moon. Just before the end of the totality at exactly 11:13 pm, the sight of the deep red full moon, the "blood moon", will probably be the most rewarding.
The very rare and purely coincident coincidence of the opposition of Mars and the lunar eclipse promises a very special show – as long as you do not look at a cloud cover. Perched vertically under the red moon, Mars also red appears as a bright point of light. "It's indeed an extremely rare and certainly impressive sky view," says Alexander Pikhard, head of the Vienna Astronomical Working Group (WAA), which will not repeat "in our lifetime".
Mars and the Earth "whole" close
The red planet is Friday exactly on the other side of the earth as the sun. It is also at one of the sunniest points (perihelion) of its orbit around the central star of our solar system right now. As a result, the distance between Mars and the Earth is very small in the so-called perihelopotor position – although in astronomical dimensions, because even on July 27, the distance is still about 60 million kilometers. On July 31, there will be "only" about 58 million kilometers. In comparison, the lowest distance from Mars to Earth is 54 million kilometers, the longest distance being 401 million kilometers.
Sky observers only benefit from peri-exposure every 15 to 17 years. More recently, the two planets approached so close to 55.8 million kilometers in 2003, and next time it will not be so long until 2035. Not only does Mars stand out in this earthly perspective, but it shines "even more brilliantly than the giant planet Jupiter, in its typical and striking red," says Pikhard.
Good weather is a prerequisite
] The weather next Friday should play along. Central Europe will be July 27 between a North Atlantic depression and a northern Russian depression. Although cloud clouds may form during the day, they may collapse again in the evening.
So that not only the red moon, but also the Martian surface is clearly visible, some terrestrial clouds are also needed. chance of cosmic time. However, this does not seem to be the case at this time, as a dust storm has been raging on Mars for several weeks and NASA has classified it as a "global dust event" since the end of June, which could last long time.
Source link
