Lunar Eclipse

In Astronomy, an eclipse is the entire or partial optical aberrations with one celestial body by another. Whenever three celestial bodies converge, an eclipse emerges. For example, the Sun is eclipsed when the Moon comes between Sun and Earth, while the lunar eclipse occurs when it moves into the Sun’s shadow cast on Earth. Eclipses occur as naturally satellites (moons) or spacecraft rotate or fly through the air as a planet moves into Earth’s natural shadow. In a binary eclipsing star system, the two stars move around. Their orbital plane passes through or very close to Earth, and each star periodically eclipses the other.

What is Lunar Eclipse?

When the Sun, Earth and Moon align, the Moon moves into Earth’s orbit, generating a lunar eclipse. During a total lunar eclipse, the entire Moon is engulfed by the umbra, the darker component of Earth’s shadow. Up to 99 per cent of the Moon’s disc will be within Earth’s umbra during this eclipse.

Definition of Lunar Eclipse in General Science: A partial or full lunar eclipse occurs when the full Moon passes through the umbra of the Earth’s shadow.

Types of Lunar Eclipses: There are three types of Lunar Eclipse which are as follows:

Total lunar eclipse

Partial lunar eclipse

Penumbral eclipse

What does Total Lunar Eclipse Mean?

The Moon moves into the shadow of the Earth, known as the umbra. A small amount of sunlight that passes through Earth’s atmosphere reaches the Moon’s surface, dimly lighting it. It is easier for colours with shorter wavelengths, such as blue and violet, to scatter than those with longer wavelengths, such as red and orange. During a lunar eclipse, the Moon appears orange or reddish because these longer wavelengths make their way through the Earth’s atmosphere and scatter away from the shorter wavelengths. During an eclipse, dust or clouds in the Earth’s atmosphere result in a redder moon.

A total lunar eclipse is a sight to behold!

During the total phase of an eclipse, the Moon may turn red, even coppery in hue. Because the Moon is in total shadow, some light from the Sun passes through Earth’s atmosphere and is bent toward the Moon, resulting in a red moon. While the Earth’s atmosphere blocks and scatters other hues in the spectrum, red light tends to pass through more easily. The result is that all of the planet’s sunrises and sunsets are projected onto the Moon.

What does Partial Lunar Eclipse mean?

The Moon passes through only half of the Earth’s umbra due to an improper alignment of the Sun, Earth and Moon. As a result, the Moon’s shadow expands and fades, rarely completely covering it.

What does it mean by Penumbral Eclipse?

You could miss it if you’re not aware that it is taking place. The Moon passes through the penumbra of Earth’s shadow, which is the dim outer section of its shadow. It’s easy to miss the Moon because it’s so subtle.

Occurrence of Lunar Eclipse: Only on a Full Moon day, when the Sun, Earth, and Moon are all aligned, results in a lunar eclipse. Even though the Moon takes only 29.5 days to orbit Earth and take a full cycle between full Moon to full Moon, there are only about three lunar eclipses each year. It is because the Moon’s orbit around Earth is not in a flat plane – it’s tilted at around five degrees – and when it cycles around, it frequently passes above or below Earth’s shadow. As a result, lunar eclipses tend to occur in clusters when the Moon is at a similar inclination. In 2018, for instance, there were three main lunar eclipses.

Lunar Eclipse in 2022

The next complete lunar eclipse will be visible from North and South America, Europe, Africa, and Asia on May 15-16, 2022. The partial and whole phases of the total lunar eclipse in May will be visible from Europe, Africa, and Asia. However, eastern North America, Central America and South America will see the eclipse from beginning to end. At 00:11 a.m. EDT, the eclipse will reach its height (0411 GMT). The second and last lunar eclipse of 2022, a total lunar eclipse, will be visible at least partially from Asia, Australia, North America, parts of northern and eastern Europe, the Arctic, and most of the rest of the world on Nov. 8, 2022.

Conclusion:

According to eclipse chasers, total eclipses are said to have two facets. There’s the science of total eclipses, known as celestial mechanics. It’s interesting when you consider the seeming coincidence in scale and the alignment of the Earth, Moon and Sun that permits this natural phenomenon to be witnessed. This exquisite symmetry and synchronisation give folks a mental rush. It’s hypnotic and fascinating. The phases of the Moon, as well as lunar and solar eclipses, are brought to us by the Moon, the Sun, and the Earth working together as a team. The Sun illuminates the Moon, allowing us to view it, and the phase of the Moon we see is determined by the angle at which the Moon is illuminated. Without one of the colleagues, the moon phases and eclipses would not be the same!