Africa is expected to experience the longest total lunar eclipse of the 21st century today Friday 27 July, 2018.
According to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, NASA, two partial eclipse of the sun will appear in the sun this summer but their viewing conditions will be less than ideal.
The total lunar eclipse is sometimes called a blood moon, as the moon turns red.
“The duration of the total phase of the eclipse will span 1 hour 42 minutes and 57 seconds; a contrast to the shortest total lunar eclipse of this century, which occurred on April 4, 2015 and lasted 4 minutes and 48 seconds. And it’s in contrast to 2018’s other total lunar eclipse – on January 31, 2018 – whose totality lasted 1 hour and 16 minutes,” it says.
Europe and Africa will view the greatest eclipse during the evening hours (sometime between sunset and midnight on July 27), whereas most of Asia, Indonesia and Australia will view the greatest eclipse in the morning (sometime between midnight and sunrise on July 28.
A ‘blood moon’ happens when Earth’s moon is in full eclipse and has no special astronomical significance, rather, the view in the sky is striking as the usually whitish moon becomes red or ruddy-brown.
Friday’s total lunar eclipse will be longest blood moon visible this century, until 2123.
-NR
