july 27
LUNAR ECLIPSE AND MARTIAN CONJUNCTION: Friday, July 27th, is a big night for astronomy. Three reasons: First, Mars will be at opposition--directly opposite the sun and making a 15-year close approach to Earth. Second, Mars and the full Moon will be in conjunction--less than 10 degrees apart. Third, the Moon will pass through the shadow of Earth, producing the longest lunar eclipse in a century:
Graphic artist Larry Koehn of ShadowandSubstance.com created this animation of the eclipse.
Almost everyone on Earth (except North
Americans) can see the eclipse as the sunset-colored shadow of our
planet swallows the Moon for almost 2 hours. During totality, the Moon
will turn almost the same red color as Mars right beside it--an
incredible sight. [eclipse visibility map] Because Mars is opposite the sun, it will rise at sunset and stay up all night long. The best time to look is around midnight when the Moon-Mars pair will be at their highest in the sky. The Red Planet will have no trouble being seen through the glare of the full Moon because Mars itself is so luminous--almost three times brighter than Sirius, the brightest star in the sky.
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