To Pamela Cruz. Peninsula 360 Press [P360P]
Tonight, all astronomy lovers will be able to enjoy one of the most anticipated events: a partial lunar eclipse, but not just any eclipse, as this one will be long-lasting, and according to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, better known as NASA, there will not be one like it for centuries.
The event, which will take place on Thursday night and Friday morning, will be visible in North America, so there is a good chance of enjoying it.
The astronomical event will be notable because, during the eclipse, up to 99.1 percent of the Moon will be in the Earth's shadow, so, although it will not be a total eclipse, it will be very close to it, NASA reported.
Is this the longest lunar eclipse of the century?
- According to data provided by the agency, it is actually the longest partial lunar eclipse in a millennium, lasting 3 hours, 28 minutes and 23 seconds.
There has not been a longer partial lunar eclipse since February 18, 1440 – 3 hours, 28 minutes, 46 seconds – and it will remain the longest partial lunar eclipse for 648 years, until February 8, 2669 – 3 hours, 30 minutes, 2 seconds. There will be a longer total lunar eclipse on November 8, 2022.
The best viewing will be just around the peak of the eclipse, on November 19 at 9:03 UTC / 4:03 AM EST / 1:03 AM PST.
This part of the eclipse is visible across North America, as well as much of South America, Polynesia, eastern Australia, and northeastern Asia.
Why is this eclipse so long?
This is a long eclipse for two main reasons: 1) The orbital speed of the Moon and 2) The near totality of the eclipse.
First, the Moon's orbit around the Earth is not a perfect circle, and the Earth is off-center within the orbit, so sometimes the Moon is closer to the Earth and other times farther away. This change in distance affects the Moon's orbital speed.
Closer to Earth, the Moon moves faster, while farther away, it travels more slowly. Right now, the Moon is near its farthest point in its orbit around Earth and is therefore moving slowly through Earth's shadow.
Second, since this eclipse is nearly total, the Moon spends more time in the Earth's umbra than in a more "partial" eclipse.
What else can I watch tonight?
During the eclipse, the Moon moves across the western part of the constellation Taurus. The Pleiades star cluster is at the upper right, and the Hyades cluster, including the bright star Aldebaran, the Bull's Eye, is at the lower left. Here are some more tips for observing the sky during the month of November.
Why does the Moon turn red during a lunar eclipse?
It's called Rayleigh scattering. Light travels in waves and different colors of light have different physical properties.
During a lunar eclipse, the Moon turns red because the only sunlight reaching the Moon passes through the Earth's atmosphere. The more dust or clouds there are in the Earth's atmosphere during the eclipse, the redder the Moon appears. It's as if all the sunrises and sunsets of the world were projected onto the Moon, NASA says.
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