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The longest total solar eclipse of the 21st century will dye the Earth's red satellite on Friday, while Mars, which will be almost at its closest point to the blue planet, will be particularly bright.
Pascal Descamps, astronomer at the Institute of Celestial Mechanics and Ephemeris Calculus (IMCCE) of the Paris Observatory, told AFP: "The moon will have a reddish, slightly coppery hue , and Mars, nicknamed "the red planet", will be at his side very bright, with a slightly orange hue, "he explains
The astronomical spectacle can be observed with the naked eye, without any danger But binoculars, lenses and telescopes will allow you to enjoy them even more.
For an eclipse of the Moon to occur, there must be an almost perfect alignment of the Sun, the Earth and the Moon When our planet is between the star and the moon, it casts its shadow on our natural satellite.
On Friday, the moon, which will be in full moon, will gradually enter the darkness then in the shade, in the night, it will come in completely and then come out gradually. 9659006] The most captivating moment of the eclipse, that is to say when the Moon will be completely in the shadow cone projected by the Earth. This "total" phase will last 1 hour and 43 minutes, making it the longest lunar eclipse of the 21st century.
In Uruguay, the phenomenon will begin with the moon under the horizon at 3:24 pm, but make visible from 6:00 pm with the eclipse to its maximum
Miniluna
"C & # 39; a replica of the eclipse of July 16, 2000, which lasted 1 hour and 46 minutes, becoming the eclipse of the moon longer than century XX [que terminó el 31 de diciembre del 2000]"says Pascal Descamps.
This will be the second total lunar eclipse of 2018, after January 31st. On this occasion, it was a "supermoon", because the satellite looked to be particularly big.
Friday's, on the other hand, will be a "miniluna" because it will be near the farthest point of Earth and it will give the sensation of having a smaller size. Also for this it will take longer to cross the cone of the shadow.
Deprived of the rays of the Sun, the Moon will darken and become red. This color is explained by the fact that the Earth's atmosphere diverts the red rays from the sun into the shadow cone, and that the moon can reflect them.
Depending on atmospheric conditions and, especially, pollution, the moon can acquire a very dark reddish gray, or dye a more intense red if there are no particles in the atmosphere .
The other protagonist of the night will be the planet Mars, which will be only 57.6 million kilometers from Earth (The minimum distance will be reached on July 31.)
Fifteen years ago, the appearance of its diameter is not so great. And we will have to wait until 2035 to see the red planet so close.
At the naked eye, you will only see a bright spot, but with lenses or a telescope, it will be possible to observe it in detail.
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