[ad_1]
On Friday, Earth will engulf the moon in its shadow and create the longest total lunar eclipse of this century: 103 full minutes. The next coming closer will arrive only in 2029. And the time of execution today will not be equaled until 2123.
In a nice little cosmic reminder that no one is the center of the universe, this eclipse will be visible all the time. continent on earth except North America. If you want the best view and you can not fly to East Africa, India or Southeast Asia, according to NASA you will have to fly over the eclipse.
The Slooh Community Observatory, a telescope service for the public, will begin to broadcast the eclipse around 1:00 pm EDT. The eclipse will begin at 1:14 pm EDT and end at 7:28 pm EDT
A total lunar eclipse occurs when the entire moon passes through the darkest part of the Earth's shadow, or umbel. Much more common are partial lunar eclipses, when part of the moon (but not all) passes through the shadows.
Slooh estimates that this time, tens of thousands of people – many of whom have probably watched the 76-minute total lunar eclipse back in January – tune in online. Nobody wants to miss the best side effect of the astronomical event: the moon turns from its milky hue of a year to a red-orange-y blush, a phenomenon often called blood moon. It turns out that the striking color actually comes from the Earth.
"When the moon is in the shadow of the Earth, the only light it receives is the diffused light of the Earth's atmosphere, which is reddish," says Noah Petro, a researcher NASA Goddard Space Flight Center. The atmosphere of the Earth is more likely to disperse blue light particles, which is why we get such breathtaking sunsets. For the same reason, red and orange particles are more likely to travel to the moon's face during an eclipse.
"Blood moon" is more of a nickname than an established astronomical term, says Paige Godfrey, physicist at Slooh (similarly for "blue moon" and "supermoon"). In recent years, some Christian ministers of the most apocalyptic variety have resumed the phrase "blood moon" to warn people of the imminence of the apocalypse. John Hagee, a televangelist and pastor of a Texas megalopolis, proposed in his 2013 book Four Moons of the Blood that coincide two Jewish holidays, the Passover and Sukkot, and total lunar eclipses in April and October 2014 and 2015 was a message from God. While Hagee has not decided his theories recently, Friday's upcoming moon of blood has revived similar online creator sermons and Internet conspiracies.
Astronomers are excited by the prolonged duration of this eclipse. It all depends on how close the moon is to the Earth and the sun. The more the three celestial bodies align perfectly, the more the moon will be in the shadow of the Earth, says Petro. One of the longest eclipses lasted about 107 minutes, but it was at the time when the most exciting news of the day was Constantine the Great renaming an ancient Roman city after his mother (in 318). The last extra-long eclipse took place on July 16, 2000 and lasted 106 minutes. The Friday eclipse will still leave our third millennium (which began in 2001) in third place at best.
In anticipation of the Friday afternoon, NASA will temporarily close most of the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter. moon for nearly a decade. It will be the longest that it has ever been without sunlight, so NASA will carefully adjust the spacecraft to make sure it does not run out of battery. The space organization took similar precautions during the 76-minute light show in January.
Lunar eclipses occur about twice a year (and sometimes more often), but they will never be again . The moon moves gradually – very gradually – further and further away from the Earth. "Theoretically, at a certain moment, there will be a last eclipse, where the moon fits precisely in the shadow of the Earth, lasts a short period of time, and that would be the case," Petro says. .
If you do not have patience for this Friday's sky show, catch the next one in January IRL, which will be visible across the United States. Do not worry, it will only be 62 minutes
More WIRED stories
Source link
