The lunar eclipse that will take place this Tuesday (8), second and last of this year, will only be visible in Brazil in a small part of the northern region. The phenomenon occurs when the Earth is located between the Sun and the Moon, which is covered by the planet’s shadow.
The event starts at 5:02 am (Brazil time), with the penumbral eclipse, not visible to the naked eye, only with equipment. At 6:09 it will be possible to see the Moon partially eclipsed, as the shadow, the darkest shadow, advances through the satellite.
“It is when you go into the shadows, when you see the full moon and you start to see a dark ‘bite’. When you are completely in the shadows, we have a total eclipse,” says Josina Nascimento, astronomer of the National Observatory.
The total eclipse begins at 7:16 am, peaks at 7:59 am and ends at 8:42 am this Tuesday, Josina says. The phenomenon will be visible from Asia, western Canada and from United States of America and Russia of the Far East, as well as the Pacific Basin regions.
In Brazil it will be possible to follow the event for only a few minutes in places in the far west of Amazonas and Acre, such as the city of Cruzeiro do Sul. “It will be possible to see the partial and the total with the Moon very close to the horizon, but there are people who cannot, because there may be a building or a tree ahead,” says the astronomer.
For those who do not live in Cruzeiro do Sul or on Easter Island, in the middle of the Pacific, it is possible to follow a program of the National Observatory that takes place from 5:30 this Tuesday on the Observatory’s YouTube channel. Specialists will clarify doubts and comment on the phenomenon.
Is he next? In 2023 there will be a partial event visible from Brazil, but a total lunar eclipse, only in 2025.
“It will be very positive for Brazil, because we will see it all over the country, from March 13 to 14, with the moon high, around three in the morning,” says Josina.
The total eclipse causes the phenomenon of Lua of blood, when the satellite takes on a reddish color. This happens, according to Roberto Costa, professor in the Department of Astronomy of the Institute of Astronomy, Geophysics and Atmospheric Sciences of the USP, because the earth’s atmosphere, which is in the path between the light of the Sun and that of the Moon, acts from filter.
“The Earth’s atmosphere is a filter that disperses more blue and lets more red through. So much so that we go into the blue sky, why? mixture of oxygen and nitrogen that forms the earth’s atmosphere it is very efficient in diffusing blue light “, says Roberto Costa,
“That’s why the sunset is red, because it goes through a much thicker part of the atmosphere.”
Costa explains that lunar eclipses also helped the Greeks demonstrate two thousand years ago that the Earth is round.
“Think of next night’s eclipse, observed from Acre. The Moon will be very low on the western horizon. If the Earth were like a pizza, the Sun would be close to the eastern horizon and the Earth’s shadow on the Moon, if it were. flat, it wouldn’t be a record, but a track, “he says.
“And the Greeks argue: It doesn’t matter what time of night the eclipse occurs: the Earth’s shadow on the Moon is always circular and the only geometric shape that explains it is that the Earth is round. It’s a known argument for two millennia “.
