Lunar eclipse “blood moon” to be seen in July
Jul 03, 2018
This month sky gazers can enjoy the longest lunar eclipse of the 21st century. It will be visible to most people living in the Eastern hemisphere and will last for 103 minutes — four minutes short of the longest possible duration an eclipse could last. Find out more details about the event below:
• It will happen on 27th July at 9:33 BST
• It will be visible to naked eye on clear night
• It will last up to 103 minutes in peak places and 84 minutes in UK
• This rare celestial event is the result of various astronomical events aligning which will prolong the phenomenon.
• During the eclipse the moon will pass through Umbra- the Earth’s darkest shadow, making it turn red giving rise to the name ‘blood moon’
• It is perfectly safe to look at the lunar eclipse.
• The total eclipse might last for 1 hour 43 minutes but will be visible for almost four hours.
• Mathematically the longest eclipse happened on 16th July, 2000 which lasted for 1 hour 42 minutes.
Some shocking theories have been shared on the blood moon eclipse:
· Christianpreacher and televangelist Paul Begley claim that the BloodMoon which will appear over Jerusalem on July 27 is a solid sign of an imminent apocalypse.
· According to Begley, the upcoming lunar eclipsewill mark the last page in the history of humanity, and he had also made clear that these predictions are derivative of a thorough analyzing of biblical prophecies.
Blood Moon is the last lunar eclipse of this century.
Will the moon actually turn blood red?
Some experts argue that there is nothing special about this Blood Moon.
· They say it is a phenomenon called Rayleigh scattering which is responsible for this color change when observed from the earth.
· According to experts, through the earth's atmosphere, the sun's rays will get scattered, filtering out the violet and green bands of the spectrum. It should be noted that the effect which turns the sunset orange and the sky blue is actually responsible for the moon's red color during the time of Blood Moon.