The Moon Blushes Red

Jana-Mari Smith

17 June 2011

Millions of faces turned skywards on Wednesday night in order to feast their eyes on a rare total lunar eclipse – as planet earth cast its terrestrial shadow over the celestial body and the sun’s rays washed its lunar face in a blood-red-and-rust tint. The lunar eclipse remained in totality for a record 100 minutes, the longest total lunar eclipse in 11 years.

Astronomer Robert Johnstone, head of the Space Observation Learning Centre in Namibia (SOLNA) explained on Wednesday night that most lunar eclipses do not stretch for longer than 20 to 30 minutes.

For Namibians and others in the southern African region, this was a rare treat as the next total lunar eclipse will only be glimpsed this side of the planet again in seven years, on July 27, 2018.

Johnstone set up three of his telescopes at St Paul’s sports ground, as animated moon fans and keen photographers, children and their parents lined up to watch the moon’s metamorphosis, plus a glimpse of Saturn and a display of “diamonds” in the sky.

Warm cups of Glühwein and coffee kept the chill at bay, while Johnstone and his colleague patiently revealed the secrets of the sky, the moon and the stars.

What added to the rarity of this red moon, was the fact that it is the first total lunar eclipse “to coincide very closely with the winter solstice in 372 years”.

And, for photographers and stargazers, this was a rare opportunity to catch sight of the stars anchored close to the moon’s circumference – when it’s a bright white, it’s luminescence overpowers the stars.

Another bonus during the eclipse is that with the moon’s bright light dimmed, the Milky Way is able to jut out, whereas at full moon, the Milky Way’s trail is usually drowned out by the moon’s blinding glow.

A lunar eclipse occurs when the moon passes behind earth, blocking out the sun’s direct rays. As the earth’s shadow falls onto the moon, the sun’s rays are refracted and catch the moon in a roundabout way.

Because the sun’s rays fall in a different colour spectrum on their way to the moon’s surface, the colours are changed so that humans perceive the surface to turn rusty red and yellow. An eclipse can occur only when the sun, earth, and moon are aligned exactly, or very closely, with the earth in the middle.

The type and length of an eclipse depend upon the moon’s location relative to its orbital nodes, astronomers explain.

Wednesday night’s eclipse was a central eclipse, visible over Europe and south America, Africa and most of Asia and Australia. North America missed out on this one.

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