3/23/2023 0 Comments Total lunar eclipse![]() ![]() This is because the Moon only reflects the sunlight and doesn’t get any brighter than a full Moon (or a supermoon). Unlike solar eclipses, which you must never look at directly, it’s safe to look at a lunar eclipse with the naked eye and no specialist equipment is needed. A lunar eclipse happens when the Sun, Earth and Moon are perfectly lined up, and this alignment only happens during the Full Moon phase of the lunar cycle. Like a solar eclipse that only occurs during a new Moon, a lunar eclipse only occurs during a full Moon. The blood superman photographed over Sydney Opera House on the © Nicholas Papas Why does a lunar eclipse only happen during a full Moon? However, after this, we’ll have to wait until 14 March 2025 for the next total lunar eclipse. It too, will be a total lunar eclipse and will be centred over the Pacific Ocean. The next lunar eclipse will take place on 8 November 2022, during the Beaver Moon. The time of the eclipse is relative to the size of the body casting the shadow, and therefore the time taken to move through its umbra. Conversely, a solar eclipse happens when the Moon’s shadow is cast over the Earth (i.e., the Moon blocks the Sun), so solar eclipses are much shorter in duration. This is because the Earth is much larger than the Moon, so the shadow cast by the Earth onto the Moon, covers the Moon for longer. However, during a lunar eclipse, totality can last much longer, as is the case on, at just shy of 85 minutes. Totality during a solar eclipse may range from a few seconds to a few minutes. Why do lunar eclipses last longer than solar eclipses? The type of eclipse is determined by how much of the Moon passes within the dark, inner umbra.Ī partial lunar eclipse occurs when the Moon does not fully enter the umbra, whereas a total lunar eclipse occurs when the whole of the Moon passes into the umbra.īoth this lunar eclipse and the next in November 2022 will reach totality. ![]() NASA describes this effect as “ It’s as if all the world’s sunrises and sunsets are projected onto the Moon.” What’s the difference between the Earth’s umbra and penumbra?ĭuring a lunar eclipse, there are two shadows that are cast on the Moon: a lighter, outer shadow called the penumbra, and a darker, inner shadow called the umbra. Volcanic eruptions that send particulates high into the stratosphere, can often block light and result in a ‘darker’ eclipse. ![]() The more dust or cloud cover that there is in the atmosphere, the redder the Moon will look from our vantage point. The eclipse will happen as the Moon is sinking towards the horizon on the morning of © Getty images The long wavelengths of red light can penetrate the atmosphere, which, from the perspective of the Moon, would resemble a ring (annulus) around the Earth. However, light can still pass through our atmosphere, so the Moon will not completely disappear. Blue light has a shorter wavelength and is scattered more easily than red light, which has a longer wavelength and is not so easily scattered.ĭuring a lunar eclipse, the Earth blocks sunlight from directly illuminating the surface of the Moon. Because light travels in waves, and each colour in the light spectrum has a different wavelength, different colours get scattered differently. Particles and gases in the atmosphere scatter sunlight in all directions, in a process called Rayleigh scattering. The red colour is caused by the refractive and scattering effects of the planet’s atmosphere. In a lunar eclipse, the Earth passes directly between the Moon and the Sun © Getty Imagesĭuring a lunar eclipse, the Moon will first pass into the penumbra, the outer part of the Earth’s shadow, then into the umbra at totality, then back into the other side of the penumbra, before leaving the shadow altogether. ![]()
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