The longest lunar eclipse so far this century will occur tonight, Friday, July 27, and will also feature a ‘blood moon’ which used to refer the reddish tinge in the Earth’s satellite.
A total lunar eclipse occurs when the moon passes through the Earth’s innermost shadow. When this happens, the moon turns rusty orange or deep red in color and is how it earned the nickname of a blood moon eclipse.
The red moon will pair well with Mars, which reaches opposition just before the eclipse and will also appear orange or red in color.
What’s particularly remarkable about this month’s lunar eclipse is how long its totality phase will last. NASA estimates the moon will be completely obscured for 1 hour and 43 minutes.
According to lunar scientist Noah Petro, of NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, the eclipse won’t be visible to viewers in North America, except via webcasts. But will be visible in much of Africa, the Middle East, southern Asia and the Indian Ocean region.
This visibility of lunar eclipse in India is expected to be pretty good but cloudy sky and inclement weather may hurt your chances of being able to watch the phenomenon.
A shorter total lunar eclipse occurred on January 31 this year. Another one is expected on Jan. 19, 2019, and will be visible from North and South America, Europe and Africa. NASA predicts there will be 85 total lunar eclipses between the years 2001 and 2100.
“When we think about the shadow behind the Earth caused by the sun’s light, that shadow is what the moon passes through”, said a space expert,
“We can imagine it to be like a circular region in the sky and sometimes when the moon doesn’t pass directly through the central part, it will move towards the edges of that circular shadow”, he added.
> Shatabdi Sarker Poushi
Lunar Eclipse : Longest Blood Moon will be Visible Tonight
