An eclipse occurs when an astronomical body blocks another. The effect is usually the total or partial darkening of this second body. However, in some lunar eclipses, the shadow projected by the earth does not completely obscure the satellite but “dye” red. They are blood moons, and this morning we may have the opportunity to see one.
Eclipse. This morning A total moon eclipse will occur which will carry the so -called “blood moon”, a darkening and redness of our satellite caused by the transit of the earth between this and the sun.
The total eclipse will be visible throughout Latin America and can also be seen from the center and western the Iberian Peninsula and from the Canary Islands. The rest of the Spanish territory can only see an eclipse Penumbral de Luna.
The gloom will begin to obscure the moon in Spain Around 5 in the morningPeninsular time (CET), but the partial eclipse will not begin until after 6 in the morning. The eclipse will reach the totality at 07:26 CET, at which time the moon will also be reddened in its path after the earth.
Blood moon? This is the phenomenon known as Blood moon and it is common in lunar eclipses. Although it may seem contradictory, this color change is produced by the same phenomenon that gives blue to our heavens.
Let’s start with the most basic. The moon lighting is because it reflects sunlight. The light that emanates the sun, although we associate it with yellowish or orange tones is, in reality, white.
This target is actually the result of the fact that the sun emits light in a wide range of frequencies in the visible spectrum, whose sum generates white light. This fan of colors is what we can see in the rainbow or when we pass sunlight through a prism.
Guilt of the atmosphere. When this white and multicolored light reaches the terrestrial atmosphere, This breaks it down as if it were a prism. The blue light, with a shorter wavelength, tends to spread when crossing with the gases of the atmosphere, bouncing and reaching our perspective as if it arrived from the sky.
However, the longest wavelengths, reddish tones, They blur to a lesser extent and continue on their way. This makes the shadow of our planet project a kind of reddish ring around. It is this ring is what gives that copper color to the blood moon.
This interaction between the solar rays and the atmosphere of our planet is also responsible for the sunrises and sunsets also becoming red. When the sun rises or puts on, its rays must cross a greater portion of atmosphere. This means that when they reach our environment they have lost dispersed the short wavelengths, that is, the blue tones. This leaves only the most reddish tones of these moments of the day.
From superstition to science. If eclipses have always been surrounded by mystery and superstitions, the ominous red -dyed moon did not go unnoticed by our ancestors. Different cultures have developed various superstitions and beliefs related to this phenomenon. Today we know the cause of the unique phenomenon. Although the blood moon may have lost this mysticism, its spectacularity can still be appreciated.
Preamble of a solar eclipse. Solar eclipses always come from a lunar eclipse that occurs about two weeks before or after this. The eclipse of this morning is one of these dual eclipses. And is that March 29 A partial solar eclipse will be produced that will be visible in part of the northern hemisphere, including Spain.