Blood Moon to occur on 26 May

Blood Moon is going to occur on 26 May. On the day, there is going to take place a total lunar eclipse during which the moon will turn red. This eclipse will be the first in the series of four big lunar eclipses in the coming two years.

According to astronomers, the moon will turn red for about 14 minutes. The total lunar eclipse will be visible in Australia, parts of the western US, western South America, or in South-East Asia, as per a report of Time and Date. The moon is called Super Flower Blood Moon because the eclipse occurs a few hours after the moon becomes the closest to the Earth on its orbit, or reaches perigee.

When the Sun, the Earth, and Moon lie in a straight line, the total eclipse of the moon takes place at full moon. This type of alignment is called a syzygy, which is an astronomical term coming from the Greek word for being paired together.

During the total lunar eclipse, the Earth comes in between the Sun and the Moon blocking all the direct sunlight that could fall upon the moon. And, that blockage of the sunlight casts the Earth’s shadow on the surface of the Moon.

Astronomers say the moon looks red during this total lunar eclipse because while passing through the earth’s atmosphere, the sunlight is refracted towards the Earth’s surface and its colors with shorter wavelengths get scattered and filtered out. But the colors with longer wavelengths like red and orange pass through the atmosphere. This light is then again refracted towards the surface of the full moon which is totally eclipsed, giving it a reddish-orange glow.

Reports suggest that the magnitude of the eclipse is 1.009 and the total duration of the eclipse is 5 hours and two minutes. But the duration of the full eclipse is only 14 minutes. Similarly, the duration of partial phases is two hours and 53 minutes.

As scientists say, no visual equipment is required to see the eclipse like the solar eclipse. Lunar eclipses are safe to see with naked eyes.