Come and see! Today the moon is "blushing" and comes with a big Easter egg

Today, the most exciting astronomical phenomenon of the year - the total lunar eclipse - arrived as scheduled!

This total lunar eclipse has two major characteristics: the "red moon" phase of the total eclipse can be seen in most parts of my country; during the total eclipse phase, the moon will obscure Uranus, one of the eight planets in the solar system.

Now let's unveil the mystery of the "red moon" and "moon occulting Uranus"~

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Uncovering the mystery of the lunar eclipse

How is a lunar eclipse formed?

The first contact of this total lunar eclipse occurred at 17:09 Beijing time on November 8, the eclipse ended at 18:16, the eclipse reached its maximum at 18:59, the eclipse ended at 19:42, and the total eclipse ended at 20:49.

A lunar eclipse is a relatively rare astronomical phenomenon. The moon itself does not emit light, and can only be seen by us when it is illuminated by sunlight. When the moon is full, the moon, the earth, and the sun are in a straight line. If the earth happens to be in the middle of the moon and the sun, blocking the sunlight shining on the moon, a lunar eclipse will occur.

Schematic diagram of the causes of lunar eclipses Source: Astronomy Enthusiast Magazine

Lunar eclipses can be roughly divided into three categories:

(1) Total lunar eclipse: At this time, the sun, the earth and the moon are exactly in a straight line, and the moon can completely enter the earth's umbra. A total lunar eclipse is the most exciting and the most noteworthy of the three types of lunar eclipses.

(2) Partial lunar eclipse: Only part of the moon enters the Earth's umbra, which means that only a portion of it becomes dark.

(3) Penumbral lunar eclipse: The moon only passes through the penumbra of the earth. At this time, only a small amount of sunlight is blocked by the earth. Therefore, the shape of the moon does not change. Instead, it only appears slightly darker than a full moon, making it difficult to detect.

Schematic diagram of the types and processes of lunar eclipses Source: Astronomy Enthusiast Magazine

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Why is a total lunar eclipse red?

Because sunlight is composed of seven colors, these lights will undergo different degrees of refraction and scattering due to different wavelengths when passing through the atmosphere. Therefore, when sunlight passes through the thick atmosphere of the earth, it absorbs purple, orange, cyan, blue, green and yellow light, leaving only red light to penetrate and be refracted by the atmosphere to the moon. Therefore, during a total lunar eclipse, we see the moon in the earth's shadow appear red.

Image source: Qingdao Observatory, Purple Mountain Observatory, Chinese Academy of Sciences

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Bonus wonder: Lunar occultation of Uranus

During this total lunar eclipse, there is another rare astronomical phenomenon, which is the occultation of Uranus by the moon. In layman's terms, the moon will "swallow" Uranus and "spit it out" after a period of time.

The moon moves from west to east relative to the starry sky, traveling about 13° per day on average, and moving about half a degree eastward every hour, which is equivalent to the apparent diameter of the moon. In the process of moving, it often blocks the planets or stars on the sky background, thus forming the astronomical phenomenon of "moon occulting stars".

For Uranus, the moon will occult Uranus every month from February this year to February next year, but Uranus is too dim to be easily distinguished because it will be submerged in the light of the moon. Each time it can only be seen in different local areas around the world.

Since the occultation happened during the total lunar eclipse, this was the rarest one. The moon completely entered the Earth's shadow, and its brightness was greatly reduced, so we could clearly see it covering Uranus. Most parts of my country could see this occultation, and the conditions were better the further east and north we went. Some parts of southwest my country could not observe it because the moon had not risen when the occultation occurred.

Schematic diagram of the relationship between the lunar occultation of Uranus and the lunar eclipse process (taking Beijing as an example) Source: Astronomy Enthusiast Magazine

How to watch the lunar occultation of Uranus:

(1) Use binoculars. Use an ordinary household binocular with a magnification of 8-10 times and an aperture of 30-40mm. With the guidance of the moon, it will be easier to find Uranus than usual.

(2) Using an astronomical telescope, Uranus, which appears as a small blue dot in the telescope, is slowly obscured by the huge moon.

Schematic diagram of the lunar occultation of Uranus as seen from some cities in China on November 8, 2022 Source: Astronomy Enthusiast Magazine

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Source: Astronomy Enthusiast Magazine, Qingdao Observatory of Purple Mountain Observatory, Chinese Academy of Sciences

Xinhua News Agency, Beijing Planetarium, Shenzhen Planetarium, Shanghai Planetarium

Compiled by: Liu Xuejie and Cai Lin

Editor: Guru