Friday, April 3, 2015

Rare eclipse spoiled by rain on Easter



Easter is just around the corner - and so is the only total lunar eclipse for the year that can be seen right across Australia, if rain doesn't spoil the parade.
This eclipse will be the shortest in at least a century -- if not longer, says Andrew Smith an astronomer at Sydney Observatory.
Total lunar eclipses occur when the Earth passes between the Sun and the Moon casting a shadow on the face of the Moon. 
This one will be super-short because the moon is just scooting the inside edge of the Earth's shadow, says Smith.
"Imagine one small circle crossing in front of a larger circle -- instead of going across the middle, which would take the longest, it's just going across the inside edge. That's the shortest distance it can travel through that shadow," he explains.
And, as it's not going deep into the Earth's shadow, it may not appear deep red during totality but take on a two-tone effect.
"What's most likely is the side of the moon that's furthest into the shadow will be a deeper red and the edge of the moon that's only just in the shadow might be a brownish-grey."
Its appearance will also be affected by factors such as pollution and dust in the air.
"What creates that reddish light is all the light from all the sunsets and sunrises on earth, that's the only light that reaches the Moon during a total eclipse," says Smith.

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