Saudi Gazette report
JEDDAH — The skies over Saudi Arabia witnessed a uncommon Blood Moon complete lunar eclipse on Sunday night. The moon turns a deep crimson because the earth’s shadow passes over it, seen throughout Saudi Arabia and far of the Arab world.
The lunar eclipse was absolutely seen within the Kingdom in addition to in Asia, Africa, and components of Australia and Europe, lasting round 83 minutes and making it one of many longest lately. The partial eclipse started at 7:27 p.m. Saudi time, with the entire eclipse beginning at 8:30 p.m. and ending at 9:53 p.m. The complete occasion concluded at 11:57 p.m.
When the lunar eclipse has reached its peak, the moon is absolutely immersed in earth’s shadow. The Blood Moon glows in numerous hues of crimson and copper, giving sky-gazers a spectacular view. Astronomy fanatics and photographers flocked to witness this uncommon phenomenon, the size and scope of which has not been seen since 2018.
The partial eclipse started because the moon progressively entered the earth’s shadow earlier than remodeling into a complete eclipse, which lasted for hours. This supplied a golden alternative to watch the phenomenon with the bare eye, along with utilizing telescopes and astronomical cameras. A lunar eclipse happens when the earth is positioned between the solar and the moon, inflicting the moon to move into the earth’s shadow.
Jeddah Astronomical Society President Eng. Majed Abu Zahra stated that the crimson coloration the moon acquires in the course of the eclipse occurred on account of the refraction of daylight on the earth’s ambiance. Blue wavelengths are filtered out, leaving crimson and orange to light up the lunar floor. “Though the eclipse solely happens throughout a full moon, the moon’s orbit is tilted about 5 levels from the earth’s orbit across the solar, which signifies that the earth usually doesn’t utterly block daylight from the moon besides on particular events.”
Abu Zahra stated that the September 7 eclipse was one of many longest eclipses this decade, with its complete part lasting for about greater than an hour, which allowed observers the chance to document sequential pictures and movies of the varied phases of the eclipse.
Astrophotographers took benefit of this occasion to document high-resolution pictures and movies of the eclipse phases, utilizing telescopes outfitted with digital cameras and photographic processing methods for instance the gradual motion of the earth’s shadow throughout the lunar floor, from a fan of full, after which again once more.