Your complete guide to observing the eclipse of the century tonight

Weather of Arabia - Astronomy amateurs and the general public eagerly await the arrival of this night, Friday-Saturday, July 27, 2018, which has long been talked about due to the distinguished astronomical event, which is the eclipse of the century , as it is the longest lunar eclipse in our current century, the twenty-first century. On this night, the color of the full moon that we know will change from bright white to blood red for about two hours, and all residents and residents of the Arab world will be able to follow this pleasant phenomenon with the naked eyes unless there are air obstacles such as clouds, rain and dust. ( Learn if you can see the eclipse tonight, depending on your area ).

What is a lunar eclipse and a solar eclipse?

This question is answered by the astronomer researcher at the Arab Weather Company, colleague Abdullah Al-Qurashi, through this video:

Very beautiful. However, another question may come to your mind now, as: If the eclipse occurs whenever the moon passes behind the earth and enters its shadow, and we know that the moon revolves around the earth once a month, then why does the lunar eclipse not occur every month? Good question.

This happens because the moon does not rotate in the same plane that includes the earth and the sun together, but is separated by about 5 degrees, up or down. To understand this, the idea of the eclipse is simple. Place a large lamp in the middle of your room and turn off the rest of the lights. Now put a soccer ball in front of this lamp at a distance Two meters, for example, when you put the ball like this, it blocks the light from the area behind it, this is - simply - the shadow of the ball in the background, now put the sun in the place of the lamp, and put the planet Earth in the place of the ball, when the moon revolves around the earth it happens, sometimes , to enter behind the Earth in that region called the "Earth's shadow" (Umbra), and when it does, that is the lunar eclipse. We return to the question (why does the eclipse not occur every month?), at a distance of two meters from the illuminated lamp, the football is located, and a clear shadow appears behind it, now hold a small plane and rotate it around that ball, in the normal case the plane will enter once in the shadow of the ball every A roll, but what if the plane was rotating in an inclined plane, rising slightly from the plane of rotation, and then descending slightly during its orbit around the ball?

This is exactly what happens during the moon's rotation around the earth, as it rises slightly above the level of its orbit to reach the maximum possible height, then descends again to intersect with the level of the earth and the sun at a point we call the Descending Node, then reaches its maximum depression, then It rises again to cut the level of the earth and the sun at a point we call the ascending node, and thus the moon continues to revolve around the earth, up and down.

Now let us add to that that the eclipse only occurs when the moon, the sun, and the earth are in the same line, so that the moon disappears behind the shadow of the earth completely, and therefore we will expect that this will happen only in cases during which the moon is in the ascending or descending node, and since the presence of the moon is in The two nodes is a case that does not recur often, as the moon, during its passage behind the earth, may be at the same level or a little higher or a little lower, and thus it gives us those variations that you see in cases of eclipses (you see it in the attached design), so the eclipse may be total (so that The Moon passes completely into the Earth's shadow), partial (part of the Moon passes into the Earth's shadow), or a penumbral eclipse (all or part of the Moon passes in an area called the Earth's penumbra), or no Something and the moon passes above or below the earth’s shadow at a great distance (in this case we see the moon as full as we usually see it).

Why does the moon look bloody in color?
What will happen on the night of next July 27, then, is that the moon will pass entirely within the shadow of the earth behind it, but here perhaps another new question will come to your mind, where if you say that the moon will pass in the dark region that lies behind the earth, why will it Does it look bloody red? Isn't it supposed to be completely dark because it's going through the dark?

This question is similar to another famous question that says: “Why is the sky blue?”, And the answer is that sunlight, white in color, consists mainly of a wide spectrum of colors that extend from blue to red, they are the colors of the spectrum that we see in the rainbow or when we pass the light Through a glass prism or a glass of water mixed with soap in science classes, but because the atmosphere contains very small molecules of oxygen, nitrogen, etc., those molecules block the path of light rays and scatter them.

To understand what happens after that, imagine with me that the waves of the blue part of the light spectrum are very small rings and that the waves of the red part are large, wide rings. Atmospheric molecules scatter blue light more, and red light (because it has a longer wavelength), so we see the sky blue.

With regard to eclipses, the situation is similar, as the sun's rays that pass through the atmosphere during the eclipse will bend due to the difference in its density from the density of outer space. The earth will bend the light exactly as the convex lens does with ordinary light, but during this bending and the passage of sunlight through the atmosphere The blue side of the visible light spectrum scatters in the atmosphere, and only the red side passes through peacefully, colliding with the Moon and giving it a brilliant blood red colour.

What will I see? When do I go out to see it?
The short answer: Go out to the sky immediately after sunset. Now let's elaborate on the matter a little. The eclipse will begin at exactly 08:15 pm on Friday, July 27, Mecca Al-Mukarramah Time (GMT +3), when the sun will enter what we call a semi-shadow area. Earth (Penumbra), and to understand what the concept of semi-shadow means, imagine that you are standing exactly under a lamppost on a winter night, look down, you will notice that there are two shadows for you, a completely dark shade that falls exactly below you, and a slightly light one that lies on either side of it, and that is exactly it What happens to the Earth (you) and the Sun (the huge lamp at the top of the lamppost).

You may not notice the moon entering the semi-shadow area easily, because its illumination decreases by a slight difference, and it will not be as pleasant as you imagine, but with the arrival of 09:24 Mecca time, the moon’s illumination will begin to erode, which is the beginning of the partial eclipse as the moon disk begins With the gradual disappearance, and this stage is simply the entry of the moon into the shadow of the earth, it is as if you are holding the disk of the moon and entering it into the shadow little by little.

The scene will be wonderful when you see the earth's shadow clear on the moon, but by our arrival at 10:30 pm Mecca time, the color of the moon will be blood red. The moon is now, completely, in the shadow of the earth, and this scene will last for an hour and 43 minutes, for this reason it is the longest (6) in the twenty-first century, this scene is the summit of the eclipse, and the greatest possible moment of enjoyment during it, specifically between 10:30 On Friday evening, at 12:13 midnight, Mecca Al-Mukarramah time.

After that, the moon begins to gradually emerge from the shadow of the earth. It looks like the scene of the first erosion, but it goes back in reverse from the other side. The moon will completely emerge from the shadow of the earth at exactly 1:19 after midnight, at that moment the moon is in The semi-shadow region, and it will need an additional hour to completely get out of the Earth's semi-shadow, which means that this interesting astronomical phenomenon will last for about four hours.

Another red visitor!

On the other hand, you can notice, on the night of the eclipse, a very bright red star that is completely eye-catching, standing below the moon. This is not a star, but the planet Mars!

Where it will be a very interesting and dazzling coincidence that the planet Mars, on the day you meet it, that is: its brightest day throughout the year, will be associated with the moon. Not only that, but we know that the planet Mars, on July 27, will be at its closest point to Earth in a phenomenon that only occurs approximately every 15 years. So her day is a red moon combined with the brightest state of the red planet, wow!

Where is the best place to observe the eclipse?
All the countries of the Arab world will see the bloody part of the eclipse, but the Arab Gulf countries, Egypt and Sudan, down to the rest of the African continent, will see it completely from the first moment. Countries from Libya to Morocco will partly miss the first aspect of the erosion of the moon. But, in any case, all the fun will be in the two bloody hours.

And you can see the eclipse everywhere, and anywhere, as long as it will be seen in your country. Astronomical societies often organize trips and observing parties for interesting phenomena such as lunar eclipses, but this will not be necessary in the case of eclipses, as we always say as amateur astronomers: the best possible observatory It is the roof of your house, especially when you share that pleasure in contemplation with your loved one, wife, children, friends and loved ones, following such phenomena as good company and pleasant conversations.

As for the tools, all you need are your bare eyes, a place to lie down comfortably for several hours, and perhaps some hearty juice or tea in order to enjoy the spectacle. If you have binoculars or a telescope, that is better, of course, but it is not essential. As for amateur astrophotography, it is better for them to start preparing for this important phenomenon from now on.

And we in Arabia Weather will broadcast live and live coverage of this distinguished eclipse. And in the Jordanian capital, Amman, we are holding a gathering to monitor the eclipse, in the Jabal Al-Qalaa region, at eight o'clock in the evening, Mecca time. Wait for us!

what about the weather?

The weather forecaster at the Arab Regional Weather Center, "Omar Dajani," confirmed that the weather will, God willing, be ideal for observing the lunar eclipse in large parts of the Arab world, such as Iraq, Jordan, Syria, Palestine, Qatar, Bahrain, the Emirates, the Sultanate of Oman, Egypt, Libya, Tunisia, and parts of Algeria, Morocco and Mauritania.

Southwestern Saudi Arabia and Yemen may be denied viewing the eclipse

As for the southwest of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Yemen, some areas may not be able to detect the total eclipse of the moon, due to the dense cloud cover that is expected to affect the region on Friday evening. It is also expected that the western coasts of Saudi Arabia will witness clouds of medium height that block the view of the moon from time to time, while Dusty weather is witnessed in the eastern regions of Saudi Arabia and some central regions due to the blowing of Al-Bawareh winds that cause waves of dust in those areas during the day.

Scattered clouds "unobstructed" to monitor the eclipse in these countries

It is expected that some low clouds will appear on the coasts of Palestine, some Lebanese highlands, western Syria, northern Egypt, Libya and the Moroccan coasts, but without that obscuring the vision of the eclipse stages completely.

Is looking at the eclipse safe?

Answer: Yes, as the blood moon can be seen with the naked eye without any fear, as it is completely safe.

This is the exact opposite of a solar eclipse, in which it is forbidden to look at the sun without special glasses, because it can lead to permanent eye damage that may reach blindness, often as a result of invisible infrared radiation.

On the other hand, the eclipse of the bloody moon is completely safe to look at, because the red light reflected by the surface of the moon is not direct sunlight and it does not harm your children, and does not cause depression, earthquakes, volcanoes, wars, or the exit of werewolves from their dens, Or the end of the world, or any of those rumors that will spread these days, just prepare yourself for an enjoyable night, and do not care about more than that, and you can - if you like - use it as an opportunity to support your children's love for the night sky and astronomy and reading about it, and what more books Who talks to children about phenomena such as those in public libraries, and you can search on YouTube for practical home activities to explain this phenomenon to your children.

Eclipse prayer... A confirmed prophetic Sunnah

Our Prophet, may God’s prayers and peace be upon him, mentioned in the hadith: “The sun and the moon do not eclipse for anyone’s death or life, but they are two of the signs of God, may He be glorified and exalted. His servants, and when it is eclipsed, hasten to prayer.”

From here it becomes clear to us that the eclipse prayer is legitimate in this event, and it is a confirmed prophetic Sunnah. Here are some details on how to perform the eclipse prayer.

The number of rak’ahs in the eclipse prayer is two, and it is prayed as follows:

The first rak’ah: The imam says the takbeer and recites al-Fatiha aloud, then recites some of the verses of the Holy Qur’an and prolongs the recitation so that it is not difficult for the congregation. Then he kneels and prostrates two prostrations exactly like the prescribed prayer.

The second rak’ah: He stands for the second rak’ah and does the same in it as he did in the first rak’ah, and reads the verses from the Qur’an and they are less long, then he recites the tashahhud and gives the salutation. The time of the lunar eclipse prayer is from the moment of the beginning of the eclipse until the clearing of the moon, and it is prayed at any time of the day or night when the eclipse occurs, or even in times of prohibition.