Egypt Witnesses Partial Lunar Eclipse

Egypt witnessed a partial lunar eclipse at 5 a.m. on Wednesday, which some citizens watched from inside the National Institute for Astronomical and Geophysical Research.

The inhabitants of Egypt witnessed the eclipse which obscured 3.5% of the area of the Moon’s disk (corresponding to 0.085 of the length of its diameter) in the Earth’s shadow when it reached its zenith.

Citizens circulated video clips and photos documenting the partial lunar eclipse and shared them in the “Delta Amateur Astronomy Club” group on Facebook.

Dr. Taha Rabeh, head of the National Institute for Astronomical and Geophysical Research (Helwan Observatory), said today’s lunar eclipse is the second lunar eclipse the world has witnessed this year.

The eclipse began with the penumbra phase at 3:41:07 p.m., while its partial began at 5:12:58 p.m., and it reached its maximum at 5:44:18 p.m., until it reached 6:15:38 a.m., and 7:47:27 AM penumbra ends.

Why is there a lunar eclipse?

Lunar eclipses and solar eclipses are considered among the oldest natural phenomena known and interacted with by humans, and they occur at specific times, conditions, and locations.

The partial lunar eclipse that Egypt saw occurs when the Earth is in a straight line between it and the Sun, causing the Earth’s shadow to fall on the Moon’s surface.

A lunar eclipse occurs when the Earth blocks sunlight from the Moon, i.e. due to the Earth’s shadow falling on its surface, making it a total or partial eclipse or penumbra.

Different types of lunar eclipses

1. Total Eclipse

This occurs when the Sun and Moon are on opposite sides of the Earth. Although the Moon is completely in the Earth’s shadow, some of the Sun’s rays reach it through the Earth’s atmosphere, which removes most of the short-wavelength rays, such as blue and purple, when the long-wave red rays pass through, so the moon appears red in color and is called a “blood moon.”

A lunar eclipse can last more than 100 minutes at its extreme, and the Earth’s diameter is 4 times the diameter of the Moon, so its shadow is very large.

2. Partial Eclipse

It was witnessed by Egypt, and it occurs when only part of the moon enters the shadow of the earth and a red shadow can appear on the dark part of the moon’s surface, although this is a rare event depending on the magnitude of the total lunar eclipse, it can happen at least twice a year partially.

3. Penumbral Eclipse

This occurs when the Earth casts a very light shadow on the Moon, making it faint and difficult to see with the naked eye.

Visibility depends on the part of the light that enters the shadow, the smaller it is, the more difficult it is to see, which is why this type of eclipse is not mentioned in the calendar except for scientific ones.