The moon will turn red during an eclipse on Sunday night – Canadian Olympics

Some Earthlings will be able to witness a total lunar eclipse on Sunday night, a rare celestial spectacle during which the night star loses its luster and gradually turns red.

The eclipse will be visible from parts of the American, European and African continents between sunrise and sunset.

This phenomenon occurs about twice a year, when the Sun, Earth and Moon are perfectly aligned and the Moon is in its full phase.

The star slips into the shadow of the Earth, which then protects the sun’s rays and gradually loses its white glow.

But that’s not the end of it all: the Earth continues to send light back from the Sun to the moon through rays that turn red through a process of “refracting the atmosphere,” Florent Delefley of the Paris-PSL Observatory told AFP.

“During an eclipse, only the Earth can illuminate the moon through this re-emission of red rays,” the astronomer continued.

“It’s very intriguing to see a bright white moon take on a red, faded hue in minutes,” he added. Visible with binoculars, as well as with the naked eye, the phenomenon can give “spectacular photos” if the weather conditions are good.

The eclipse will last about five hours, and its full phase – when the star is completely in the shadow of the earth – a little more than an hour.

The eclipse will be visible entirely in South America, Central America and over eastern North America.

In mainland France, the eclipse will be complete at the end of the night: the lunar disk will be completely red. Note that the Moon will set during this phase of the aggregate, at the same time as the Sun will rise.

The next total lunar eclipse is scheduled for November 2022, in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. In mainland France, the latter dates from January 2019, and the next will take place only in 2029.

Lunar eclipses have shown that the Earth has been round “since ancient times”, the astronomer points out. “On the surface of the lunar disk, the boundary between the shadow and the part illuminated by the sun is slightly curved: this is the projection of the Earth’s roundness.”