North America will not be able to see the longest lunar eclipse of the century



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A lunar eclipse 2015
Photo: Frank Schulenburg (Flickr)

The moon is amazing, and you should watch it. Our vision is always changing, but sometimes the face of the Moon changes dramatically, like when it sneaks behind the Earth's shadow and turns red. A particularly long lunar eclipse will take place at the end of next month, which is exciting news for most of the world. People in North America, however, will not be able to see it.

Viewing. If your country is dark on the map, the eclipse will not be visible to you.

Why am I emphasizing this? Well, I've read a lot of science news, and if you do too, you know that the lunar eclipse fever has already begun. This means that media outlets publish all sorts of articles explaining what an eclipse is, what it looks like, and, in some cases, how it announces the end of the world.

If you read the US titles of A, you might think that you will have the opportunity to see this most recent eclipse. You will not do it, since the total eclipse will take place from around 15:30. at 5:15 pm EST (12:30 pm to 2:15 pm PST). You will have the opportunity to watch the eclipse online, on the virtual telescope project, timeanddate.com, and elsewhere.

If this is enough to excite you (or if you are in another part of the world), the eclipse is certainly remarkable. At about 105 minutes, it is the longest lunar eclipse of the century. The cause is the same reason why lunar eclipses do not occur at every full moon: the orbital plane of the moon moves up and down. This time, the moon will pass near the darkest part of the Earth's shadow – if you imagine the shadow as a big circle, the path of the moon will almost cut the circle in half .

As to why the moon turns red, it's because sunlight is still refracted and bent around the Earth's atmosphere – which diffuses blue light, so that only red light shines through. The moon keeps the strange light, even in the shadows.

If you are angry at me for killing pleasure, do not be afraid. The United States will be able to see an eclipse on January 21, 2019.

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