by In the wake of the first solar eclipse of the year – a partial eclipse on April 30 – a total lunar eclipse is on the horizon.
Between the late evening of May 15 and the early morning of May 16, depending on the time zone, the full moon of flowers will enter the shadow of the Earth, causing a total lunar eclipse that will also be visible from most of the Americas and from ‘Antarctica. such as the western part of Europe and Africa and the eastern part of the Pacific. Skywatchers in New Zealand, Eastern Europe and the Middle East will experience a penumbral eclipse, during which only the edge of the Earth’s shadow falls on the moon.
According to TimeandDate.com, the partial eclipse will begin on May 15 at 22:28 EDT (0228 GMT on May 16), reaching its maximum on May 16 at 00:11 EDT (0411 GMT). That total eclipse effect can give the moon a reddish hue known as Blood Moon. It will conclude at 1:55 am EDT (0555 GMT). The penumbral eclipse will start about an hour earlier and end about an hour after the partial eclipse.
Related: Lunar eclipses: what are they and when is the next one?
Lunar eclipses always occur during full moons. Full moons occur when the moon is on the opposite side of the Earth from the sun: the sun then illuminates the entire face of the moon as seen from the perspective of the Earth. Since the moon’s orbit is tilted about 5 degrees from Earth’s orbit, the moon usually avoids the earth’s shadow; a lunar eclipse occurs when it doesn’t.
There are three types of lunar eclipses: penumbral, partial and total. In a penumbral eclipse, the moon passes through the outside of the Landthe shadow, which is quite diffuse, so there is only a slight darkening of the moon’s surface. A partial eclipse occurs when part of the moon enters the Earth’s darkest shadow, or shadow, causing significant darkening of part of the moon.
And a total eclipse, as you might have guessed, is when the entire moon enters the darkest part of the earth’s shadow. A total eclipse will also include twilight and partial phases as the moon makes its way into the shadows. The impending lunar eclipse of May 15-16 will be a total lunar eclipse, although some locations will lose phases while the sun is above the horizon.
During total lunar eclipses, the moon often appears blood red. This is because the sunlight refracts around the Earth as if the planet were a prism; light waves are stretched out, so they appear on the redder side of the spectrum when they reach the moon. Color is also affected by the conditions of The earth’s atmosphere; the moon may appear more orange or golden, depending on the amount of dust, cloud cover, or volcanic ash in the air.
If you miss this total solar eclipse, don’t worry – another one will happen by the end of the year, on November 8th. That will be visible across the Americas, Oceania and Asia.
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