Total lunar eclipse woos sky watchers

WASHINGTON - An unusual set of celestial circumstances came together over Sunday night and the wee hours of Monday for sky watchers in Europe, Africa and the Americas, where the moon was fully obscured before lighting up again with a faint red glow.

In the streets of Mexico City, Los Angeles and Paris and in the Moroccan desert, moon gazers turned to the sky to observe the phenomenon, around midnight in the Americas, and shortly before dawn in Europe and Africa.

The eclipse lasted about three hours: during the first hour the full moon was gradually swallowed up by the shadow of the Earth, then an hour of total eclipse where it was not invisible but instead appeared tinted in hues of red, orange and pink, followed finally by its full reemergence, bright and shining. 

The full Moon appeared bigger than normal because it was closer to the Earth -- about 222,000 miles (358,000 kilometers) away -- earning it the nickname "super Moon."

Other monikers include a "Wolf Moon," a traditional way of coining an eclipse in the month of January, and a "Blood Moon" because of its rusty, red color. Hence the name for this year's event: a "super blood wolf Moon."

At its peak, where night skies were clear of clouds, Venus and Jupiter shone brightly in the night sky. 

Not everyone was fortunate: in London, for example, astronomy enthusiasts hopes were dashed by a cloudy night. 

WHY RED?

During a lunar eclipse, the Moon appears red because the light of the Sun no longer directly illuminates it, since Earth is passing in between the Moon and Sun.

"The color is due to Rayleigh scattering -- where the Sun's blue light is scattered off molecules in Earth's atmosphere -- which also happens at sunsets," explained the Royal Astronomical Society of Britain. 

"The Sun's red light is scattered much less by air, and is bent by Earth's atmosphere in a process called refraction, traveling all the way through it to light up the Moon's surface."

LAST ECLIPSE

Total or partial lunar eclipses happen at least twice a year on average, Florent Deleflie, an astronomer at the Observatory of Paris-PSL told AFP. It's just that they are not visible everywhere.

It's a rare event when a total lunar eclipse is visible on so many parts of the Earth's land mass, as is the case Monday.

Europeans last saw a total lunar eclipse in July 2018. The next chance for a glimpse at a lunar eclipse will be in 2022, but the entire continent won't be able to see the totality of a lunar eclipse again until 2029.

North Americans may get their next glimpse of a blood moon in 2021 along the West coast and 2022 on the East coast.

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'Blood moon' dazzles skygazers in century's longest eclipse

The longest "blood moon" eclipse this century occurred Friday night (early Saturday morning in the Philippines), coinciding with Mars' closest approach in 15 years to treat skygazers across the globe to a thrilling celestial spectacle.

As Earth's constant companion slowly sailed across the skies, crowds gathered around the world to catch a glimpse of the rare phenomenon.

Beside Lake Magadi, 100 kilometers (60 miles) southwest of the Kenyan capital Nairobi, young members of the Maasai community watched the eclipse through a high-powered telescope provided by a local couple.

"Until today I thought Mars, Jupiter and the other planets were in the imagination of scientists," Purity Sailepo, 16, told AFP.

"But now I've seen it I can believe it and I want to be an astronomer to tell other people."

Unlike with a solar eclipse, viewers do not need protective eye gear to observe the rare display. 

For about half the world, the moon will be partly or fully in Earth's shadow from 1714 to 2328 GMT -- six hours and 14 minutes in all.

The period of complete eclipse -- known as "totality", when the moon appears darkest -- lasted from 1930 to 2113 GMT.

At the same time, Mars hovered near the moon in the night sky, easily visible to the naked eye.

Amateur astronomers in the southern hemisphere are best-placed to witness the rare sight, especially in southern Africa, Australia, South Asia and Madagascar, though it will also be partly visible in Europe and South America.

More than 2,000 people including many children armed with binoculars gathered in the Tunisian capital of Tunis.

"I hope this eclipse will bring us happiness and peace," said Karima, 46, without taking her eyes off the sky. 

However, bad weather thwarted the cosmic display in several parts of the world. 

Widespread monsoon rainstorms and thick clouds hid the moon across much of India and its neighbours, which should have had a prime view.

Similarly, eager observers who had assembled on cliffs and beaches in the English county of Dorset were left in the dark due to an overcast sky.

"It's disappointing," Tish Adams, 67, told AFP. "I took a few photos but there was nothing but a streak of pink in the sky."

- Celestial bodies align -

Mars appeared unusually large and bright, a mere 57.7 million kilometres (35.9 million miles) from Earth on its elliptical orbit around the sun.

"We have a rare and interesting conjunction of phenomena," Pascal Descamps, an astronomer with the Paris Observatory, told AFP.

"We should have a coppery red tint on the moon with Mars the 'Red Planet' just next to it, very bright and with a slight orange hue itself."

A total lunar eclipse happens when Earth takes position in a straight line between the moon and sun, blotting out the direct sunlight that normally makes our satellite glow whitish-yellow.

The moon travels to a similar position every month, but the tilt of its orbit means it normally passes above or below the Earth's shadow -- so most months we have a full moon without an eclipse.

When the three celestial bodies are perfectly lined up, however, the Earth's atmosphere scatters blue light from the sun while refracting or bending red light onto the moon, usually giving it a rosy blush.

This is what gives the phenomenon the name "blood moon", though Mark Bailey of the Armagh Observatory in Northern Ireland said the colour can vary greatly.

It depends partly on "how cloudy or transparent those parts of the Earth's atmosphere are which enable sunlight to reach the moon", he told AFP.

"During a very dark eclipse the moon may be almost invisible."

The long duration of this eclipse is partly due to the fact that the moon will make a near-central passage through Earth's umbra -- the darkest, most central part of the shadow.

- 'Eerie and beautiful' -

The moon will also be at the farthest point on its orbit from Earth, making its movement across the sky slower from our perspective, thus spending longer in the dark.

NASA, meanwhile, called out social media hoaxers claiming that Mars would appear as big as the moon during the eclipse.

"If that were true, we'd be in big trouble given the gravitational pulls on Earth, Mars, and our moon!" the NASA website stated.

Mars will more likely appear as a very bright star.

"In the middle of a lunar eclipse it can look as if a red planet has taken up residence near the Earth -- they are both eerie and beautiful," said Robert Massey of the Royal Astronomical Society in London.

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NASA: 'Super blue blood moon' to shine in January 2018

Rare lunar events will mark the entry of 2018 as two supermoons are set to shine on the first and last evenings of January, with the finale expected to have an "extra special" red glow, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) said on its website.

A "supermoon" is a full moon that appears 14 percent larger and 30 percent brighter than the usual full moon. It appears when the moon orbits closest to Earth during its full phase.

The "wolf moon" or the first full moon of the year will be a supermoon, NASA said. It follows the opener of the supermoon "trilogy"- as NASA put it - which was seen in early December.

"You almost feel as though you could reach out, grab the glowing orb, and drop it into your coffee cup," NASA said.

But moon-gazing will be twice the fun in the grand finale by the end of January, when a very rare "super blue blood moon" will appear.

"Sometimes the celestial rhythms sync up just right to wow us," NASA said.

A "super blue blood moon" is a "supermoon", a "blood moon", and a "blue moon" all happening in one night.

A blue moon is the second full moon in a month, while a blood moon is seen when a full moon temporarily turns red during a total lunar eclipse.

"The January 31st supermoon will feature a total lunar eclipse, with totality viewable from western North America across the Pacific to Eastern Asia," NASA said.

"The Moon will lose its brightness and take on an eerie, fainter-than-normal glow from the scant sunlight that makes its way through Earth’s atmosphere," NASA added.

The space agency said it would be best to view to natural phenomenon when the moon rises or sets over the horizon.

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LOOK: 'Blood moon' rises

WASHINGTON - Stargazers in the Americas and Asia were treated to a lunar eclipse Wednesday, a celestial show that bathed the moon in red to create a "blood moon."

During the total lunar eclipse, which lasted several hours, the Earth passed between the sun and the moon.

The moon reflected sunlight scattered in the Earth's atmosphere and took on a red hue.

The early phase of the eclipse began at 0800 GMT, or 4:00 am, on the east coast of the United States, and will continue until sunrise.

In Hong Kong, the eclipse started shortly after moonrise at 1000 GMT or 6:00 pm local time, with the total eclipse phase emerging half an hour later and lasting for around an hour before moving to a partial eclipse.

Free viewing locations were set up on a harborside promenade by the Hong Kong Space Museum for the public to observe the various phases on astronomy telescopes.

In Tokyo's Roppongi fashion and entertainment district, enthusiasts were planning to perform yoga exercises under the blood moon. Many others had climbed atop the city's skyscrapers to view the sky.

On Australia's east coast, a live video feed set up by the Sydney Observatory was pointing to cloud cover less than an hour ahead of the moon's move into Earth's shadow.

In New Zealand, the moon will be close to its highest point in the sky, according to Auckland's Stardome Observatory & Planetarium, holding out hope of a view of the spectacle unobstructed by buildings.

Sky watchers are also able to see the phenomenon live via NASA's robotic telescope service, Slooh.

NASA's lunar experts answered questions ahead of the celestial event via live web chat from 0700 GMT.

"NASA moon experts will be up all night on October 8 to answer your questions," the space agency said.

The eclipse is the second of four total lunar eclipses, starting with a first "blood moon" on April 15, in a series astronomers call a tetrad.

The next two total lunar eclipses will be on April 4 and September 28 of next year.

The last time a tetrad took place was in 2003-2004, with the next predicted for 2032-2033. In total, the 21st century will see eight tetrads.

Amateur astronomists in Africa or Europe are out of luck, NASA said, as the event will not be visible in those regions.

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