The next solar eclipse, occurring this weekend, will likewise be challenging to view – unless you’re lucky enough to be on the southern tip of Africa or somehow situated in a portion of Antarctica. “The communication problem will be solved by having a spacecraft orbiting the moon to relay radio signals from the far side of the moon back to earth”, Brown said.
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A total lunar eclipse is quite remarkable to watch, but this one coming up is no “normal” eclipse.
According to Elsa Gilbertson, regional historic site administrator for the Vermont Division for Historic Preservation, the battlefield eclipse party is ideally suited with its dark, unobstructed view of the sky-there are no annoying outdoor night lights from neighbors to dim the eclipse at the site. If successful, China will become the first to reach the unexplored and far side of the moon.
“At this nearest point to the Earth, the moon appears larger in diameter by 14 percent”, said Planetarium Director Rick Evans. When Earth’s satellite blocks out the entire solar disk, a total eclipse results; when the moon just takes out a bite, it’s a partial solar eclipse. Not particularly rare, the most recent such tetrad occurred in 2003-2004 and the next will happen in 2032-2033.
John Hagee, a U.S. pastor, wrote a book foretelling the disaster “Four Blood Moons” which in March past year was the country’s ninth best-selling paperback.
“It is part of a “tertrad”, which foretells a meteorite destroying earth and the end of time”, The Independent reported.
There is no debating the fact that China plans to be the first nation of the world to send an unmanned probe to the moon’s far, dark side; and the country’s ambitious space program gives credence to this fact in the face of their increasing efforts to land a lunar probe before 2020.
Call me a skeptic, but I’m guessing that these guys have still paid their mortgages for October. During the eclipse, our planet’s shadow is projected onto the full moon, slowly darkening its surface until it’s completely covered.
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The September 27 eclipse will feature the expected red color, which varies from cooper to red depending upon atmospheric conditions.
