Skip to main content

The last lunar eclipse of the year will be visible in Sri Lanka

                                                                            "blood moon."

Amal Udawatta

The final lunar eclipse of 2025 is scheduled to take place on the night of September 7. This lunar eclipse is significant because over seventy-seven percent (77%) of the world's population will be able to see it. If you are in Asia, Australia, Africa, or Europe, you will have the opportunity to witness this eclipse. According to the provided map, the countries highlighted in red and black will experience a total lunar eclipse. Residents in these areas will be able to view every phase of the eclipse from beginning to end. Since Sri Lanka is located within this range, it will also have a clear view of the total lunar eclipse.

The Saros number for this total lunar eclipse is 128, and its total duration will be limited to 6 hours and 59 minutes, concluding at 9:59. The penumbral magnitude will be 2.286, while the umbral magnitude will be 1.183. In terms of location, the Right Ascension (RA) is 11.64, and the Declination (Dec) is 2.7.

Sri Lankans will have a rare opportunity to observe a lunar eclipse on September 7, coinciding with the full moon day of Nikini Poya. The eclipse will begin at 8:58:13 PM (20:58:13 hrs) and will last until 2:24:58 AM (02:24:58 hrs) the following day, September 8th. This means the event will be visible for approximately 6 hours and 27 minutes. The total phase of the lunar eclipse is expected to occur between 11:01 PM on the 7th and 12:22 AM on the 8th. In addition to Sri Lanka, the entire sequence of the eclipse will also be visible from neighboring regions, including India, China, Indonesia, and Western Australia.



A lunar eclipse occurs when the Earth is positioned between the Sun and the Moon, casting its shadow directly onto the Moon. This phenomenon only happens on a full moon day. The time it takes for the Moon to orbit the Earth relative to the stars is known as a Sidereal Month, which is 27.32 days. In contrast, the time from one full moon to the next, which measures the Moon's orbit around the Earth relative to the Sun, is approximately 29.53 days. However, a lunar eclipse does not take place on every full moon. Now, let’s explore why this is the case. The plane of the Moon's orbit around the Earth is tilted by 5 to 8 degrees. Because of this inclination, the plane of the Moon's orbit intersects with the plane of the Sun and the Earth at only two points, known as the Nodes in astronomy. Additionally, the plane of the Moon's orbit rotates around the Earth very slowly compared to the Earth itself. At certain times, these two nodes align with the Sun and the Earth. When this happens and the Moon passes behind the Earth, a lunar eclipse occurs. Conversely, when the Moon passes through the equinox between the Earth and the Sun, a solar eclipse takes place.



Why does the moon appear red during a total lunar eclipse?

When the moon is outside the penumbra, it is not visible. However, once it enters the penumbra, the moon assumes a reddish hue. This red color occurs because sunlight is refracted by Earth's atmosphere, and a portion of this refracted light reaches the moon's surface. In general, red light has a lower refractive index than blue light. As a result, some of the blue light gets scattered into space, while the red light, with its lower refractive index, is concentrated behind the moon. Consequently, the light that reaches the moon's surface is predominantly red. This phenomenon is why the moon appears red during a total lunar eclipse. If the sky is clear when a lunar eclipse takes place, the moon can appear brighter and more vividly red, which is why it is often referred to as a "blood moon."

Image and Diagram from the Internet

 


Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Why did Homo sapiens outlast all other human species?

  From - Live Science By  Mindy Weisberger Edited by - Amal Udawatta Reproductions of skulls from a Neanderthal (left), Homo sapiens (middle) and Australopithecus afarensis (right)   (Image credit: WHPics, Paul Campbell, and Attie Gerber via Getty Images; collage by Marilyn Perkins) Modern humans ( Homo sapiens ) are the sole surviving representatives of the  human family tree , but we're the last sentence in an evolutionary story that began approximately 6 million years ago and spawned at least 18 species known collectively as hominins.  There were at least nine  Homo  species — including  H. sapiens  —  distributed around Africa, Europe and Asia by about 300,000 years ago, according to the Smithsonian's  National Museum of Nat ural History  in Washington, D.C. One by one, all except  H. sapiens  disappeared.  Neanderthals  and a  Homo  group known as the  Denisovans  lived alongside...
Post a Comment
Read more

New Zealand loses first naval ship to sea since WW2

  Aleks Phillips   BBC New  ,   Michael Bristow,    BBC World Service Edited by - Amal Udawatta US Navy HMNZS Manawanui capsized after running aground off the coast of Samoa The Royal New Zealand Navy has lost its first ship to the sea since World War Two, after one of its vessels ran aground off the coast of Samoa. HMNZS Manawanui, a specialist diving and ocean imaging ship, came into trouble about one nautical mile from the island of Upolu on Saturday night local time, while conducting a survey of a reef. It later caught fire before capsizing. All 75 people on board were evacuated onto lifeboats and rescued early on Sunday, New Zealand's Defence Force said in a statement. Officials said the cause of the grounding was unknown and will be investigated. Reuters All 75 people on board have now safely been rescued The incident occurred during a bout of rough and windy weather. Military officials said rescuers "battled" currents and winds that pushed ...
Post a Comment
Read more

'The forgotten Monet': How masterful paintings by the artist's stepdaughter are finally getting recognition

    From - BBC World News    By -  Lucy Davies   Edited by - Amal Udawatta Art Institute of Chicago/ Arthur M Wood/ Collection of Alice and Rick Johnson Blanche Hoschedé-Monet has barely been acknowledged in art history. But not only did she help her stepfather Claude, she created her own fine works – often of the same scenes as him. Haystack at Giverny, Poplars at the Water's Edge, Morning on the Seine. These painting titles bring only one name to mind – the great Claude Monet, whose flickering evocations of light and atmosphere are the cornerstone of Impressionism.  But while Monet painted these very subjects, the paintings belong to the oeuvre of his stepdaughter, and subsequently daughter-in-law, Blanche Hoschedé-Monet (1865–1947). She learned to paint at Monet's shoulder, and exhibited and sold her work through the leading Parisian dealers of the time. Her finest paintings suggest an artist of such flair that you wonder how she has ...
Post a Comment
Read more