Explain why the moon appears red during an eclipse, the moon appears in many shapes and colors according to the phase it represents or the phase of the eclipse, where the moon rotates in an elliptical path around the planet and at the same time the earth revolves around the sun, and during this movement coincides with the presence of the earth between the sun and the moon, So that the shadow of the planet obscures the sun from the sun from the moon, and this astronomical phenomenon occurs only when the moon is full, that is, when it is fully lit, then the moon is on the same ideal line with the sun and the earth, but the eclipse does not repeat itself every time the moon is full, and this phenomenon They do not happen every month, and this article will answer the question posed.
Information about the lunar eclipse
This phenomenon occurs when the full moon is combined, which is the point where the moon, the sun, and the earth are in an intermediate state, so the moon appears partially dark at this stage because it passes into the earth’s shadow region, and this shadow is divided into three parts, a partial shadow region, a partial shadow region, and a completely dark region. Cases where eclipses occur on the surface of the moon, because this phenomenon can be seen with the naked eye from the surface of the earth, and to obtain a more accurate interpretation of the eclipse phenomenon; The moon revolves around the earth in a different orbit from the earth’s orbit around the sun. As for the moon, in this phenomenon the moon cannot be seen with the naked eye from the earth’s surface.
Explain why the moon appears red during an eclipse
The phenomenon of the red moon can be called the phenomenon of blood wolf, the giant moon or the wolf moon, because this phenomenon works to make the moon appear red, and it is considered a strange phenomenon, so the answer is as follows
- This phenomenon occurs in conjunction with the total lunar eclipse if the earth falls between it and the sun at the same level and thus creates the earth’s shadow on the moon, which leads to a total lunar eclipse.
What are the forms of lunar eclipses?
Lunar eclipses occur in three cases, for reasons that we will explain
- Total lunar eclipse This phenomenon is rare, and this phenomenon occurs when the moon falls completely in the shadow of the earth, which means that its extension is one, and the earth is in the middle of this extension and the earth blocks the sun’s rays and the colors emitted from them except for the red color that the moon touches, and thus the moon appears in this phenomenon In red, for a lunar eclipse to occur, and for this type to occur, the moon must be in a full moon position.
- Partial lunar eclipse A partial lunar eclipse can occur twice a year, and this phenomenon is not as rare as a total eclipse. This causes parts of the moon to be covered by the earth’s shadow.
The reasons for the different duration of the lunar eclipse
Astronomers link the duration of the lunar eclipse in all its forms to several factors, namely
- The distance of the moon from the earth It is known that the moon revolves around the earth in an elliptical direction and thus sometimes approaches it and sometimes moves away from it because, according to scientists, the closest distance to the moon is the area of the earth. 356,000 km, then the moon appears at its maximum width, and if it is a full moon it is called the giant moon, and its brightness increases, but from the point of view of the eclipse, this case is the shortest possible time for the eclipse, and the opposite is when it is farthest from the earth and the largest distance is 406,000 km. It is the full moon. This will be the longest eclipse period.
- The path of the moon in the shadow of the earth These are the cases in which a partial eclipse of the moon occurs and the duration of the eclipse is less than the total lunar eclipse of July 2022, when the eclipse lasted for an hour and 43 minutes, and the shortest eclipse occurred in 2014 – only 1 hour and 4 minutes.
