It is visible from Far East Asia, Australia, the Americas, Western Europe, and Africa… and will not be seen in Egypt and most of the Arab world
Astronomy and astronomical phenomena enthusiasts will have a date tomorrow, Monday, with the first lunar eclipse in the year 2024. It is of the “semi-shadow” type and will not be seen in Egypt and the Arab region, and the timing of its middle coincides with the timing of the full moon of the month of Ramadan for the current Hijri year 1445.
This eclipse cannot be seen with the naked eye and can be seen through telescopes in the areas where the moon appears when the eclipse occurs, including a large part of the continent of Europe, north/eastern Asia, a large part of Australia, North and South America, a large part of the continent of Africa, the ocean. The Atlantic Ocean, the Pacific Ocean, and the Arctic and Antarctic continents.
Regarding the details of this eclipse, Dr. Yasser Abdel Hadi, Professor of Sun Research and Head of the Sun and Space Research Laboratory Department at the National Institute for Astronomical Research, said that the Earth will witness tomorrow, Monday, at 6:53 minutes and 11 seconds in the morning, the first lunar eclipse in the year 2024, and it is of this type. Semi-shadow, but it will not be seen in Egypt and the Arab region.
Dr. Yasser Abdel Hadi indicated in special statements to “Youm Seven” that the timing of this eclipse coincides with the timing of Badr in the month of Ramadan for the current Hijri year 1445, explaining that in this eclipse the Earth’s penumbra will cover approximately 95.6% of the moon’s disk, and its peak will be at 9:13 minutes and 59 seconds in the morning, and ends at 11:32 minutes and 18 seconds in the morning, with all its stages from its beginning to its end taking a period of approximately 4 hours and 39 minutes.
He stressed that this eclipse cannot be seen with the naked eye and can be seen through telescopes in the areas where the moon appears when the eclipse occurs, including a large part of the continent of Europe, north/eastern Asia, a large part of Australia, North and South America, and a large part of the continent of Africa. , the Atlantic Ocean, the Pacific Ocean, and the Arctic and Antarctic continents.
He noted that a semi-shadow lunar eclipse occurs when the moon passes through the Earth’s penumbra, where the moon becomes only slightly darker and does not become completely dark or its color tends to redden like a total eclipse.
For his part, the professor of astronomy at the institute, Dr. Ashraf Tadros, said that a lunar eclipse never occurs unless the moon is full, that is, when the Earth is between the sun and the moon and the Earth’s shadow falls on the moon.
He added that in confirmation of this, (the full moon of the month of Ramadan) will be completed on the same day (next Monday) at nine o’clock and one minute in the morning, and its brightness will reach 100%. The moon will rise on that day immediately after sunset and remain in the sky throughout the night until it sets with the sunrise on Next morning.
He pointed out that the full moon of Ramadan will begin to decrease gradually after that until it reaches its last quarter on Tuesday, April 2, at 5:16 a.m.
He explained that the moon has three faces that it passes through after the birth of the crescent, which is “the first quarter, in which the percentage of the illuminated part of the moon is 50%, which means that the Hijri month has reached the end of its first week, then the moon becomes full in the middle of the Hijri month, and the last quarter, in which the full moon gradually decreases to occupy Only half of it is lit.”
He noted that the full moon of March is known to American tribes by several names, the most famous of which is the “worm moon,” as earthworms appear frequently at this time of the year. He stressed that the time of the full moon is the best time to see the terrain, volcanic craters, and meteor craters on the surface of the moon using large glasses and small telescopes. .
In the same context, the Jeddah Astronomical Society revealed in its report that the Earth is on a date with a “deep” penumbra eclipse of the moon tomorrow, Monday, Ramadan 15, 1445, corresponding to March 25, 2024. It will last 4 hours and 39 minutes, as about 96% of the moon’s disk will be inside the penumbra. The Earth’s shadow is at the greatest peak of the eclipse and will be visible from far eastern Asia, Australia, the Americas, Western Europe and Africa. The last time an eclipse of this depth occurred was in May 2023.
The report indicated that this eclipse is not visible in most of the Arab world, with the exception of the countries of the Maghreb, including Algeria, Tunisia, Morocco, Mauritania, and western Libya, where the eclipse will occur simultaneously with the timing of its sunset in those regions.
She continued: A penumbral eclipse occurs when the moon passes through an outer area of the Earth’s shadow called the penumbra. Usually in this type of eclipse, the moon’s illumination dims, but hardly any change can be noticed when observed with the naked eye. However, this eclipse has characteristics that make it exceptional, as almost the entire moon will pass inside. The penumbra of the Earth, and therefore the decrease in the illumination of the Moon will be more noticeable than usual. Such cases are called a complete penumbra eclipse, and the reason for its rarity is because the chance of the Moon entering the Earth’s shadow at some point is very high once it passes completely within the Moon’s penumbra.
During this eclipse, the Moon will have passed its apogee by only one day, making its apparent size very small. The maximum peak of the eclipse will have an apparent diameter 6.1% smaller than average.
The stages of the eclipse will be at the same time in all the regions that will witness this eclipse, as the eclipse will begin with the moon entering the Earth’s penumbra at 07:53 AM Mecca time (04:53 AM GMT). At this stage, no change in the illumination of the disk will be seen. The moon will appear as usual at this time of the lunar month.
In conjunction with this, the Ramadan moon will reach the moment of fullness at 10:00 AM Mecca time (07:00 AM GMT) and will complete half its orbit around the Earth this month. This will be followed by the eclipse reaching its greatest peak at 10:12 AM Mecca time (07 AM). (12 a.m. GMT) This will be the best time to observe the dimming of the lunar disk’s illumination and see its clear darkness in the moon due to its proximity to within 5% of the Earth’s shadow at that time.
The eclipse will end with the Moon leaving the Earth’s penumbra at 12:32 PM Mecca time (09:32 AM GMT). Unlike a solar eclipse, a lunar eclipse can be observed with the naked eye. It is preferable to use binoculars or a small telescope to see details on the Moon’s surface as well as photograph the eclipse. At different stages, a digital camera mounted on a tripod can capture the finest details, or with a smartphone camera lens above the eyepiece. Some of the latest phones have shooting modes suitable for the night sky, so you can try using them instead of a digital camera, but a tripod is still necessary.
The reason why eclipses do not occur monthly is that the Moon’s orbit around the Earth is tilted by about 5 degrees to the Earth’s orbit around the Sun, which means that the Moon spends most of the time either above or below the level of the Earth’s orbit around the Sun, where the Earth’s shadow is at the same level, so a monthly eclipse does not occur. .
It is worth noting that two weeks after the penumbra eclipse of the moon, a total solar eclipse will occur on April 8th, not visible in the skies of the Arab world.
