Paris | The longest total lunar eclipse of the 21st century will make our satellite blush on Friday, while the planet Mars, almost as close to Earth as possible, will be full of brilliance: a conjunction of phenomena that should delight amateur astronomers.
► You can watch the eclipse live on the NASA website .
The show can be seen with the naked eye, without any danger contrary to solar eclipses. Binoculars, glasses and telescopes will allow you to enjoy even more, provided the weather is good.
The classic cameras will make beautiful pictures, but it will take a foot, recommends astronomer Pascal Descamps, Observatory Paris-PSL.
The eclipse, which corresponds to the moment when the Moon plunges into the shadow of the Earth, will be visible, partially or totally, in one half of the world (roughly the eastern hemisphere). It can be observed from Africa, Europe, Asia, Australia.
But it is East and South Africa, the Middle East and India that will be the best to enjoy the show.
Metropolitan France will see the end of the eclipse, the Moon rising between 19H00 and 19H30 GMT (21h00 and 21H30 Paris time) is after the beginning of the phenomenon. It is in Reunion that the French will best admire the event.
The site timeanddate.com allows to know precisely the areas concerned by the eclipse and the local time at which it will be visible in the night from Friday to Saturday.
"The Moon should take a reddish hue, a bit coppery and Mars, nicknamed the" red planet ", will be next, very bright, with a slightly orange hue," said Pascal Descamps.
However, the weather could play spoilers especially in Southeast Asia, during the monsoon season.
For a lunar eclipse to occur, there must be an almost perfect alignment of the Sun, the Earth and the Moon. Our planet, lying between our star and the Moon, then projects its shadow on its natural satellite.
The moon, full, will gradually return in the dark, then in the shadows to be completely in the shadows, before emerging gradually.
The complete phenomenon (including darkness, imperceptible to the naked eye) will begin at 17:14 GMT (13:14 Montreal time) and end at 23:28 GMT (19:28 Montreal time).
The show will begin at 18H24 GMT (14h24 Montreal time), the Moon giving the impression of being gradually nibbled by the shadows.
The most interesting moment of the eclipse, when the Moon is completely in the shadow cone projected by the Earth, will begin at 19:30 GMT (15:30 Montreal time) and will end at 21:13 GMT (17:13 Montreal time).
This phase of "totality" will last 1 hour 43 minutes (103 minutes), making it the longest lunar eclipse of the 21st century.
Many animations
This is the second total lunar eclipse of 2018, the first having taken place on January 31st (it was not visible in France).
Deprived of the rays of the Sun, the Moon will darken and take on a brick tint because the Earth's atmosphere deflects the red rays of sunlight into the shadow cone. The moon can then send them back.
It is possible that the brightness of the Moon is mitigated because "it will go through the center of the shadow of the Earth, where there is the least refracted light," warns Olivier Sanguy, City of the Space in Toulouse.
The other star of the night will be the planet Mars, which will be only 57.6 million kilometers from the Earth.
To the naked eye, we will see a bright spot, but with a telescope or a telescope, it will be possible to observe it in detail.
The evening will give the opportunity to twist a rumor relayed on social networks that Mars would appear as big as the Moon this Friday.
"If it were true, we would be in a lot of trouble, given the gravitational force," said NASA ironically on its website.
In France, the French Association of Astronomy (AFA) organizes activities around the eclipse in 150 places. The Paris mayor invites fans to visit the forecourt of the Sacred Heart. The Cité de l'Espace in Toulouse is waiting for 6500 people for its evening which is full.
In Madrid, the mayor proposes to watch the eclipse in the vast park of Pradolongo, against a backdrop of electronic music.
Posted from my blog with SteemPress : https://infos.link/the-longest-lunar-eclipse-of-the-21st-century-is-tonight/