‘Blood moon’ to appear today for 21st Century’s longest lunar eclipse

The totality period of the eclipse will last for one hour and 42 minutes, according to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).

North America missed out on Friday’s lunar eclipse but can look forward to the next one on January 21, 2019, according to NASA. That means the planet and the sun will be on exact opposite sides of the Earth and will shine its best.

Various Bible passages are cited to back this up, including one in the Book of Joel saying, ‘The sun will turn into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and bad day of the Lord comes’. Some light, though, will still reach it because it is bent by the earth’s atmosphere.

The rare event occurs when the Earth appears in a straight line between the Moon and the Sun.

Partly cloudy skies on Friday night should still give us a chance to at least view the full Moon and Mars in close proximity, so it will still be worth a look.

A blood moon rises over Tel Aviv, Israel, Friday, July 27, 2018. In Johannesburg, residents took advantage of the clear winter night and watched the reddish shadow slide up the moon’s surface.

The brighter Mars will remain very close to the eclipsed Moon in the sky on July 27-28 and can be spotted very easily with the naked eye, the statement said. This is a demonstration telescope is the only telescope in the Observatory, which can be viewed by the human eye, for all others are created to look eye.

The blood moon from Terry Hills, New South Wales.

Here’s everything you need to know to catch the astrological phenomenon if you’re in Italy.

The moon will fill the sky with a spectacular glow and take on a ruddy rust hue that’s attractive, and vaguely creepy. The eclipse will be visible from eastern South America as it is ending, and from Australia as it is beginning.

The Virtual Telescope Project shared a livestream of the lunar eclipse and Mars at its brightest just a few degrees apart above the skyline of Rome.

This marks the second total lunar eclipse this year visible from Australia, with the next one predicted for 2021.

“We have about a couple of hundred people that are booked in to come and watch it with us”.

“Despite its glorious girth, northern observers will pay a price during this juicy Mars apparition”, Sky & Telescope contributing editor Bob King said.