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Credit: Medium |
Why July 27 Lunar Eclipse Is Regarded As The Century’s Longest Lunar Eclipse?
- The moon will pass through the central part of the earth’s shadow, hence this lunar eclipse can also be called as Central Lunar Eclipse. During the central lunar eclipse, the moon will pass through the central part of the earth’s shadow rather than crossing through the sides of the earth’s shadow. This type of lunar eclipse is very rare to be observed.
- During the July month total lunar eclipse, the moon will be at the farthest position from the earth. In the world of astronomy, this phenomenon is known as the Lunar Apogee. During lunar apogee, the distance between the earth and the moon will be the longest, hence from the earth, the moon will look a bit smaller in size and also moving slowly towards the earth; following Kepler’s Laws. During lunar apogee, this Blood Moon is also known as Micro Blood Moon.
So because of the above two reasons mentioned, July 27 lunar eclipse will be the Century’s Longest Lunar Eclipse. By the way, according to Nasa, this total lunar eclipse would last for 1 hour and 43 minutes.
What Is Lunar Eclipse?
Why July 27 Lunar Eclipse Called The Blood Moon?
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July 27 Lunar Eclipse Occurrence Credit: Wikimedia Commons |
When, Where & How To See The Century’s Longest Blood Moon?
The July 27 lunar eclipse will be visible in South Asia, Central Asia, parts of Europe, the Middle East, South America, and Africa. The eclipse will be seen rising over South America, Western Africa, and Europe, and can be seen setting over Eastern Asia and Australia. Well, there are some places where July 27 eclipse could not be seen because, during the occurrence of an eclipse, the moon will be below the horizon i.e daytime. such places are like North America (USA).
The Century’s Longest Lunar Eclipse will be best visible from the Indian sub-continent. In simple terms, due to geographical location, from India and neighboring reasons, both total and partial lunar eclipse can be observed with the naked eyes. In India, the eclipse will start with a partial lunar eclipse sharp at 11:54 pm IST on July 27, followed by the total lunar eclipse (blood moon) at 1:00 am on July 28, again followed by the partial lunar eclipse which will end around 3:49 am on July 28.
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Eclipse visibility, July 27, 2018 Credit: Wikimedia Commons |
Places like in European countries, skywatchers in London will see the moon rise around 8:51 pm local time. In Europe, when the moon will rise, the moon will be already in the Earth’s umbra (shadow). The maximum eclipse will occur at sharp 9:21 pm local time.
In Cape Town, South Africa, the partial lunar eclipse will start at 7:14 pm local time followed by the total lunar eclipse at sharp 8:24 pm. The maximum eclipse will occur at 10:21 pm.
In Melbourne Australia, the moon will be setting when the eclipse will start. The partial eclipse will start at sharp 4:24 am local time followed by the total lunar eclipse around 5:30 am. The total lunar eclipse will be maximum at around 6:21 am. Stargazers in Australia won’t see the moon coming out of Earth’s Shadow because the that the moon will be below the horizon.
Is it safe to look at the lunar eclipse without special glasses?
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Credit: StockUnlimited |
Special Bonanza For Skygazers
At last, I will leave you all my readers with a quote by Nicolaus Copernicus regarding Lunar Eclipses, and he quote
The earth together with its surrounding waters must in fact have such a shape as its shadow reveals, for it eclipses the moon with the arc of a perfect circle.
∗ Don’t Believe It As I Said Till You Yourself Believe It First – Gautama Buddha