Saturday night date with lunar eclipse

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Saturday night date with lunar eclipse



PARIS (AFP) - The Moon will turn a shade of copper red this Saturday when it will be fully eclipsed by the Earth, whose shadow will blot out all but a tiny bit of refracted solar light.

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Star gazers in Europe, the Middle East and Africa will have a front-and-center view of the eclipse in a late-night sky, with the zenith occurring at 23:21 GMT.

On the east coast of North America, the Moon will already be eclipsed when it rises at around sunset, while in Asia early risers will get a glimpse of the lunar blackout as the Moon sets.

Total lunar eclipses occur when the Sun, the Earth and the Moon are all in alignment and the Moon travels into the broad cone of shadow cast by the Earth.

The Moon does not become invisible, though, because there is still residual sunlight that is deflected towards it by the Earth's atmosphere, most of which is light in the red part of the spectrum.

That causes the Moon to appear as a dark colour, usually a coppery red, orange or even brown.

The Earth's shadow will begin to creep over the Moon -- a stage known as the penumbral eclipse -- at about 20:18 GMT on Saturday, according to NASA, and will recede entirely some six hours later at 02:23 GMT on Sunday.

The period of total eclipse will be relatively short, lasting from 22:40 to 23:57 GMT, a total of 77 minutes.

Total lunar eclipses normally occur roughly every couple of years, but those who miss the one this weekend will get another chance to see the moon disappear on August 28. The last took place on October 28, 2004.

Total solar eclipses happen when the Moon crosses between the Earth and the Sun.

NASA eclipse