Longest total lunar eclipse of the century to turn the moon red this month

Prepare for this century's longest total lunar eclipse.

Get ready to see something pretty cool later this month.

On the 27 July we'll be able to see what's expected to be the longest total lunar eclipse of this century!

A lunar eclipse happens when the Sun, Earth and Moon are aligned. That means the Earth is directly between the Sun and Moon, blocking the sunlight.

The eclipse then happens when the Moon enters the shadow created by Earth.

When it's a total eclipse the Moon can look a bright reddish orange colour. That's why some people call it a 'Blood Moon'.

It usually turns a deep, dark red because it's being lit up by light which has passed through the Earth's atmosphere and then bent back towards the moon by something called refraction.

The lunar eclipse will last for around one hour and fourty minutes and if the sky is clear it should be visible after sunset.

You don't need a telescope but a good pair of binoculars might help.

Here in the UK though, we won't be able to watch the start.

That's because the Moon will still be below the horizon - that's the line where the Earth's surface and the sky appear to meet.

Depending on where you are in the country moon rise will happen around 9 pm. The Moon will also appear to be lower in the sky the further north you are.

The century is relatively young yet, but the longest total lunar eclipse of the 21st century is set to go down on July 27. In fact, it's probably the longest such event between now and 2123, according to NASA's catalog of such things.

A total lunar eclipse occurs when the sun, earth and moon are in a line, casting the reddish-orange shadow of our planet onto the surface of the moon.  This is why a total lunar eclipse is often referred to as a "blood moon."

The scientific explanation for the creepy, red-tinted satellite is admittedly a little less exciting than the more hysterical explanation from ancient times: that some kind of huge, unseen dragon in the sky is going to attempt to devour the moon but ultimately fail.

Whatever your favored explanation, it's happening this month and it will last for a whopping 1 hour and 43 minutes but there is a catch: it will only be visible in parts of South America, Africa, the Middle East and Asia. 

The Javascript Lunar Eclipse Explorer can compute the local circumstances for every lunar eclipse visible from a city for any century from -1999 to 3000 (2000 BCE to 3000 CE). Just follow these instructions:

• Section 1 - Select a city from the drop-down menu or manually enter the geographic coordinates and time zone.
• Section 2 - Choose the eclipse types to include in the search.
• Section 3 - Select the desired century by clicking the button.
• Section 4 - A table will be generated giving the local circumstances for every eclipse visible from the city.

All times are displayed in local time using the value from the Time Zone field in Section 1 (add 1 hour for Daylight Saving Time). The start and end times of penumbral phases are of academic interest only since these events are never visible to the eye.

Events shown in gray occur below the horizon and can not be seen from the selected location. The calendar date of an eclipse refers to the start time of the eclipse, even if the Moon is below the horizon at that time. If an eclipse begins before midnight and ends after midnight, the latter phases occur on the following calendar date.

For more information about the local circumstances table, see Key to Lunar Eclipse Explorer.

The Javascript Solar Eclipse Explorer is a similar web tool for determining the visibility of solar eclipses from any city.

---

Section 1: City Coordinates

Choose city, or enter coordinates:

Choose City... - - - SOUTHEAST ASIA - - - Bandar Seri Begawan, BRUNEI Phnum Penh, CAMBODIA Bandung, INDONESIA Banyuwangi, INDONESIA Bekasi, INDONESIA Bojonegoro, INDONESIA Brebes, INDONESIA Cianjur, INDONESIA Cibinong, INDONESIA Cikampek, INDONESIA Cilacap, INDONESIA Ciledug, INDONESIA Cimahi, INDONESIA Ciparay, INDONESIA Denpasar, INDONESIA Depok, INDONESIA Dumai, INDONESIA Garut, INDONESIA Genteng, INDONESIA Gresik, INDONESIA Indramayu, INDONESIA Jakarta, INDONESIA Jember, INDONESIA Jepara, INDONESIA Jombang, INDONESIA Krawang, INDONESIA Kebumen, INDONESIA Kisaran, INDONESIA Klangenang, INDONESIA Klaten, INDONESIA Lumajang, INDONESIA Majalaya, INDONESIA Makasar, INDONESIA Mataram, INDONESIA Medan, INDONESIA Muncar, INDONESIA Padangsidempuan, INDONESIA Palembang, INDONESIA Pare, INDONESIA Pati, INDONESIA Pemalang, INDONESIA Ponorogo, INDONESIA Pringsewu, INDONESIA Purwokerto, INDONESIA Semarang, INDONESIA Serang, INDONESIA Sidoarjo, INDONESIA Subang, INDONESIA Sumenep, INDONESIA Surabaya, INDONESIA Taman, INDONESIA Tangerang, INDONESIA Tasikmalaya, INDONESIA Tembilahan, INDONESIA Tuban, INDONESIA Tulungagung, INDONESIA Yogyakarta, INDONESIA Kuala Lumpur, MALAYSIA Mandalay, MYANMAR Yangon, MYANMAR Noumea, NEW CALEDONIA Port Moresby, PAPUA NEW GUINEA Caloocan, PHILIPPINES Cebu, PHILIPPINES Davao, PHILIPPINES Manila, PHILIPPINES Quezon City, PHILIPPINES Singapore, SINGAPORE Bangkok, THAILAND Hai Phong, VIETNAM Ha Noi, VIETNAM Ho Chi Minh, VIETNAM - - -  AUSTRALIA & NEW ZEALAND - - - Adelaide, AUSTRALIA Alice Springs, AUSTRALIA Brisbane, AUSTRALIA Canberra, AUSTRALIA Darwin, AUSTRALIA Geelong, AUSTRALIA Hobart, AUSTRALIA Melbourne, AUSTRALIA Newcastle, AUSTRALIA Perth, AUSTRALIA Rockhampton, AUSTRALIA Southport, AUSTRALIA Sydney, AUSTRALIA Townsville, AUSTRALIA Wollongong, AUSTRALIA Auckland, NEW ZEALAND Christchurch, NEW ZEALAND Dunedin, NEW ZEALAND Hamilton, NEW ZEALAND Manukau, NEW ZEALAND Wellington, NEW ZEALAND - - - OCEANA - - - Easter Island, CHILE Santa Cruz, Galapagos, ECUADOR Suva, FIJI ISLANDS Papeete, FRENCH POLYNESIA Agana, GUAM Susupe, Saipan, NORTHERN MARIANA IS. Pitcairn Island, PITCAIRN Honolulu, Oahu, USA Apia, WESTERN SAMOA

Name:
Latitude:	deg  min  sec N S
Longitude:	deg  min  sec W E
Altitude:	meters
Time Zone:	00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 1400 15 30 45E W

---

Section 2: Eclipse Type Search Criteria

Choose eclipse types for search:
All eclipses Partial and Total Total

---

Section 3: Century Selection

Choose century*:

* Negative years are equivalent to the year BC minus 1 year (See: Dating Conventions ).

---

Section 4: Eclipse Predictions

Events shown in gray occur below the horizon and are not visible.
The calendar date of an eclipse refers to the start of the penumbral eclipse, even if this phase is not visible (i.e., Moon is below the horizon). If an eclipse begins before midnight and ends after midnight, the latter phases occur on the following calendar date.

Negative years are equivalent to the year BC minus 1 year (See: Dating Conventions ).

---

Acknowledgments

The Javascript Lunar Eclipse Explorer was developed by Chris O'Byrne and Fred Espenak. It features drop-down menus for city coordinates and buttons to select any century from -1999 to 3000 (2000 BCE to 3000 CE). It can be used to explore the frequency and circumstances of all lunar eclipses visible from any location on Earth.

The Besselian elements, contact times and values of ΔT used in Lunar Eclipse Explorer were calculated by Jean Meeus and Fred Espenak. They are based on the same solar and lunar ephemerides used in the Five Millennium Canon of Solar Eclipses: -1999 to +3000. For the purposes of calculating eclipse circumstances from a given place, the growing uncertainty in the value of ΔT and the corresponding longitude become unacceptably large outside time period of -1999 to 3000 (2000 BCE to 3000 CE).

Permission is freely granted to reproduce this data when accompanied by an acknowledgment:

"Eclipse Predictions by Fred Espenak and Chris O'Byrne (NASA's GSFC)"

SOURCE : NASA

Copyright © Admin: teachoutofcourse. 

All rights reserved. None of the parts of this site shall be reproduced, stored in retrieval system or transmitted, in any forms or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of copyright holder.

ISBN 978-4723-2427-9

Contributors: Nirajan Dhakal 

---