Paris France.
A part of the planet will be able to attend the night from Sunday to Monday a total lunar eclipsea rare phenomenon during which the satellite’s brightness dims and progressively takes on a coppery hue.
Here you can see the live broadcast.
The occultation of the Moon by the shadow of the Earth can be seen in South and Central America and in the eastern part of North America. It will also be perceived from regions of Europe and Africa.
The total lunar eclipse usually occurs twice a year, when the Sun, Earth and Moon they are perfectly aligned and the Moon is in its full phase.
As it plunges into Earth’s shadow, the Moon loses its whiteness. But it is still visible because the sun’s rays, deflected by the Earth, continue to reach it through the “atmospheric refraction”, explains Florent Deleflie, from the Paris-PSL Observatory, to AFP.
“During an eclipse, only the Earth can illuminate the Moon through this forwarding of red rays.”, adds the astronomer.
The phenomenon can be seen with the naked eye and with a clear sky it is extremely photogenic.
The eclipse will last about five hours and in its total phase – when the star is completely covered by the shadow of the Earth – a little more than an hour.
The next total lunar eclipse It will take place in November, in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.
Florent Deleflie remember that lunar eclipses allowed to demonstrate “since ancient times” that the Earth is round.
“On the lunar disk, the boundary between the shadow area and the part illuminated by the Sun is slightly curved: it is the projection of the roundness of the Earth“, Explain.
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