Translation. Region: Russian Federal
Source: Novosibirsk State University –
An important disclaimer is at the bottom of this article.
On the night of September 7-8, residents of almost the entire territory of Russia could observe a total lunar eclipse. In Novosibirsk, there were ideal weather conditions that night – a clear and bright sky, so astronomy lovers could enjoy a rather rare astronomical phenomenon.
According to Egor Konyaev, an engineer at the Vega Observatory at NSU, the next total lunar eclipse, visible over most of Russia, will occur in 3 years, on December 31, 2028.
— According to local time in Novosibirsk, its maximum will be almost midnight (23:50). Therefore, it can already be called New Year's, — adds Yegor.
What is a lunar eclipse?
A lunar eclipse occurs when the Moon, in its orbit around the Earth, enters the shadow of our planet, and the Earth at that moment is exactly between the Sun and its natural satellite.
Why is the moon red? And why is it visible?
— The most important and interesting question that arises in the observer is: why does the Moon turn red during a total eclipse? And why is it visible if an eclipse occurs? It would seem that if the Moon is immersed in the Earth's shadow, it should not be visible at all. But this is not so. And here the Earth's atmosphere plays the main role, — explains Yegor Konyaev.
According to Rayleigh's theory, there is a dependence of the intensity of light scattering on the wavelength. Blue rays, which have a shorter wavelength, are scattered in the Earth's atmosphere 4-5 times stronger than red ones, which is why the color of the daytime, clear sky is blue.
— It is for this same reason that during a lunar eclipse the Moon takes on a red hue. Some of the rays that are refracted and not scattered in the Earth's atmosphere hit the lunar surface, from which they are reflected and "return" to the observer located on the Earth's night side. And we can observe such an interesting, beautiful effect when the Moon is painted in different shades of red — from copper-yellow to dark-dark red, — says Yegor Konyaev.
How often do lunar eclipses occur?
On average, both lunar and solar eclipses occur twice a year. But an observer on Earth has a much greater chance of seeing a lunar eclipse than a solar one. Why? The reason is geometry.
— A lunar eclipse looks the same wherever the Moon is above the horizon — its area is equal to a hemisphere. In addition, the Earth is larger than the Moon, so the Earth's shadow completely covers the Moon. During a solar eclipse, when the Moon moves in front of the Sun, the shadow cast by the Moon is much smaller than the Earth's and covers an insignificant part of the Earth's surface. Therefore, the chance to see a solar eclipse is only available to people located within a narrow strip of the Earth's surface along which the Moon's shadow passes, — adds Yegor Konyaev.
So, the next total solar eclipse, which will occur on August 12, 2026, in Russia can be seen only on the Taimyr Peninsula, but observation will be extremely difficult, since it is very low above the horizon and not all phases will be visible.
A total lunar eclipse has three phases. The first phase is the penumbral phase, when the Moon is still fully illuminated by direct sunlight, but falls into the Earth's penumbra. As it continues to move along its orbit, the Moon falls into the Earth's shadow, which completely blocks sunlight for some areas of the Moon – this is the shadow phase of the eclipse. When the Moon is completely immersed in the Earth's shadow, the total phase of the lunar eclipse occurs. This is the moment when the Earth's natural satellite turns red.
This time, the maximum phase of the eclipse was 136%, it was reached at 1:12 Novosibirsk time. The total phase lasted from 0:31 to 1:52, the umbral phase from 23:27 to 2:56, and the penumbral phase from 22:28 to 3:55.
What is interesting about a lunar eclipse?
As Alfiya Nesterenko, head of the Vega observatory at NSU, notes, this lunar eclipse was quite long, unlike those observed earlier. Thus, the phase of the total lunar eclipse this time lasted more than an hour.
“Also, during a lunar eclipse, you can discern relief details that are not noticeable on the Moon during normal times, due to the greater contrast of some elements,” adds Alfiya Nesterenko.
Photo: Egor Konyaev, Mikhail Maslov, NSU Vega Observatory. The photo shows all phases of the lunar eclipse.
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