Today , July 16 , 2019 , marks 50 years to the day sinceApollo 11 blasted offfrom Earth on its mission to put humans on the Moon for the first time . As if the Moon is let us roll in the hay it ’s still thinking about us after all these years , contribution of major planet Earth will be graced with a fond lunar eclipse tonight .
The partial lunar eclipse will visible in the UK after sundown at just about 22:30 BST , accord to theRoyal Astronomical Society . The sky are prefigure to remain clear of clouds throughout the even , so about 60 per centum of the seeable lunar surface will turn a rusty red or hoar semblance around this time .
The spectacle will also be visible across a large part of Asia , all of Africa , eastern parts of South America , and the western part of Australia . Unfortunately , the US and the rest of North America wo n’t be able to have the lunar occultation . However , if you ’re still interested , theVirtual Telescope Projectwill share a live stream of the lunar eclipse as it presents itself above the apparent horizon of Rome .
In the UK , the Moon will hang low in the sky throughout the eclipse , so you ’ll need an unobstructed S - easterly and southern horizon to view it . Unlike a solar eclipse , it ’s whole safe to remark with the naked eye as the light is not too intense .
Lunar eclipses fall out when the Earth , Sun , and Moon are almost exactly in line , with the Earth placed in between the Sun and Moon ( as you’re able to see above).The shadow of the Earth is purge on the Moon , obscuring a detectable amount of sunlight from reaching the lunar surface .
As this fall out , the lunar month will appear to deform a rusty red or orange color . Theeffect is known asRayleigh scatter , when gas and other small particle in Earth ’s atmosphere have the shorter wavelength of illumination , like indigo and blue , to scatter . During the twenty-four hour period , this results in the sky appearing grim . However , if light move through enough atmosphere , so much light will be scatter that only longer wavelengths , like red or orange , will stay on . This is the effect we see during sunrise or sundown on Earth , and it ’s also what you see during a lunar eclipse .
