During a total lunar eclipse that spanned Asia as well as large areas of Europe and Africa, stargazers savored a “blood moon.”
The planet’s shadow on its satellite, when it aligns with the sun, Earth, and moon, gives it an eerie, deep red color, a phenomenon that has fascinated people for ages.
The total eclipse on Sunday, which was also visible on the eastern edge of Africa and in western Australia, was most visible to people in Asia, including those in India and China.
Between 17:30 and 18:52 GMT, the total lunar eclipse occurred.
The Americas were unable to see a partial eclipse until the moon rose in the early evening, which was also available to stargazers in Europe.
According to Ryan Milligan, an astrophysicist at Queen’s University Belfast in Northern Ireland, the moon appears red during lunar eclipses because the only sunlight that travels through it is “reflected and scattered through the Earth’s atmosphere.”
He told the AFP news agency that because blue wavelengths are shorter than red, they can be more easily dispersed as they pass through the Earth’s atmosphere.
The moon’s red, bloody color is due to this, according to the legend.
A lunar eclipse can only be observed during clear weather and a designated location, though special glasses or pinhole projectors are required to do so safely.
Source: Aljazeera
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