Lunar Eclipse: What will happen in 27 July, 2018

What is Lunar Eclipse?

Lunar eclipse is one of the greatest cosmic events of all time. When the moon passes right behind the earth and it's shadow, the lunar eclipse occurs. But there is a condition. Lunar eclipse occurs only if the sun, earth and moon are aligned with each other. In astronomy, this alignment is called syzygy.

What is total Lunar Eclipse?

During the lunar eclipse, when the moon enters completely in the earth's shadow, the earth prevents the sunlight directly reach to moon. In that case, the sunlight has to pass through the earth's atmosphere to moon. When the earth completely blocks the sunlight, the moon appears as red. Because, earth's atmosphere filters out the radiations and it travels a long distance. Hence, the wavelength of light becomes greater and greater which results a reddish moon. In astronomy it is called Blood Moon.

Conditions for total lunar eclipse:

There are two conditions for occurring a total lunar eclipse -

1. The sun, earth and moon should be aligned in a straight line.


2. There should be full moon (when earth is located in between sun and moon perfectly middle).

Some stages of lunar eclipse:

There are seven various stages of a lunar eclipse. They are as following -

1. Penumbral eclipse begins:

This is the beginning of the lunar eclipse. This is that stage, when the shadow of the earth begins to cover the moon gradually.

2.Partial eclipse begins:

This is that stage of lunar eclipse, when the inner part of the earth's shadow begins to cover the moon.

3.Total eclipse begins:

Also known as totality. This is that stage of lunar eclipse, when the earth's shadow completely covers the moon. In this stage the moon appears as reddish-brown which is called the blood moon.

4. Maximum eclipse:

This is that stage of lunar eclipse, when the total lunar eclipse reaches the midpoint. That is maximum total lunar eclipse.

5. Total eclipse ends:

This is that stage of lunar eclipse, when the earth's shadow starts to move away from moon's surface after maximum eclipse.

6. Partial eclipse ends:

This is that stage of lunar eclipse, when the inner portion of earth's shadow starts moving away from moon after stage 5 (total eclipse ends).

7. Penumbral eclipse ends:

This is that stage of lunar eclipse, when the moon comes out completely from the earth's shadow. In this stage, the lunar eclipse comes to end.
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The lunar eclipse can be viewed with a naked eye without any special equipment. Unlike solar eclipse, a lunar eclipse can be viewed from anywhere from the night side of earth. Whereas, solar eclipse can be viewed from few regions of earth. A total lunar eclipse lasts for a few hours which is more interesting for any astronomy lover.

What is Danjon scale?

A French astronomer André-Louis Danjon, devised a rating scale for rating the overall darkness of lunar eclipse. This scale is called Danjon scale. In this scale, the darkness was determined by L. With the help of this scale he divided the darkness as following -

L=0:

When L=0, the lunar eclipse is so dark that moon is almost invisible. This happens at the time of maximum eclipse or mid-totality.

L=1:

When L=1, it is dark eclipse. The lunar eclipse is the combination of grey and brown color. Only visible if observed carefully.

L=2:

When L=2, the eclipse is deep red in color. In the central portion, there is a very dark shadow while in the edge of the moon, it is slightly bright.

L=3:

When L=3, the eclipse is brick-red in color. The fully shaded inner portion of the shadow looks like a bright yellowish rim.

L=4:

When L=4, the eclipse is bright orange in color. The inner shadow portion has a blue and bright rim.

What will happen in 27 July, 2018 lunar eclipse?

In 27 July, 2018, there will be a total lunar eclipse which will be visible from much of Europe, Asia, Australia, south America, Indian Ocean, Atlantic etc. In this event, there will be full moon which is essential for total lunar eclipse. An interesting incident will be that Mars will be visible with naked eye in the sky. Because, at that time Mars will come closer to the moon. This will be a great opportunity for astronomy lovers including me.

In this time mars will cover the closest distance from earth compared to anytime in the last 15 years. The mars will look brighter and bigger than anytime. The distance between the earth and mars will be 58 million kilometres at that time. So, grab the opportunity.

Where can I watch the live stream of 27 July, 2018 lunar eclipse?

The full live stream of lunar eclipse can be seen from this link https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wZMR930hDSQ. So, watch the live stream from this link. This is specially for those who will not be able to watch the event with own eyes.

Here is a link of all lunar eclipses from 8 August, 1998. So, enjoy the total lunar eclipse in 27, July 2018.