It’s in the evening! The last lunar eclipse of the year is here! Save the viewing guide!

The last lunar eclipse of this year

It will be launched today!

November 19th afternoon

A partial lunar eclipse will occur.

15:18:22

The first phase of the lunar eclipse begins

17:02:54

The lunar eclipse reaches its maximum eclipse state, and then begins to shine

18:47:24

Reconciliation completed

The whole process lasted 3 hours and 29 minutes. However, in fact, if the penumbral lunar eclipse phase is included, the total duration of this partial lunar eclipse is 6 hours and 5 minutes.

Partial lunar eclipse on November 19, 2021

Penumbral lunar eclipse, no sense of existence?

Many of our friends are familiar with lunar eclipses and have seen them with their own eyes. It is a very shocking and worthy astronomical phenomenon, but fewer people know about penumbral lunar eclipses . Maybe you have seen it, but you were not aware of it happening.

When sunlight hits the earth, two shadows are formed. One is the completely dark umbra, which is located directly behind the earth along the projection of the sunlight. The other shadow forms a ring outside the umbra, which is the penumbra.

The method of using one mobile phone and two mobile phones to illuminate the front of the cup respectively demonstrates the umbra and penumbra

The cause of a penumbral lunar eclipse is that the huge body of the sun with a diameter of 1.392 million kilometers can allow light to be emitted from different positions and shine around the earth. Let’s take the top of the earth as an example. When it blocks the light from the upper part of the sun, a shadow area will be formed behind it, but part of this area is illuminated by the light from the lower part of the sun. This half-bright and half-dark area will still illuminate the moon, but the brightness will be "halved", and it looks like a thin layer of gauze in front of the moon.

The partial lunar eclipse was photographed in the early morning of August 8, 2017. The umbra and penumbra are distinct. Photo courtesy of Han Dayang

Everyone can recall whether they have ever seen such a lunar eclipse, so as to give the penumbral lunar eclipse a proper name.

A “very good deal” partial lunar eclipse

When this partial eclipse occurred, the sun, the earth and the moon were almost in the same straight line. In other words, the moon almost entered the earth's umbra. How much did it leave? About 2.2%, a very small crescent, which really looks like a total lunar eclipse !

What’s even more amazing is that the maximum eclipse will occur a little after 5:00 p.m., so you don’t have to stay up late, as it is just the time when many of your friends get off work. So don’t forget to look up to the northeast that night, where you will see a red moon rising slowly . As the altitude continues to rise, the red color will slowly fade, and the crescent moon originally hiding on one side will become bigger and bigger, until one hour and forty-five minutes later, it becomes a full moon.

In just over an hour, you can see the rising moon, the red moon, the lunar eclipse, and the full moon.

Partial lunar eclipse science map Source: Ningbo Astronomy Enthusiasts Association

Why do most parts of our country only watch the "second half"?

Although the plot of this "Partial Lunar Eclipse" is compact enough and the finale with the eclipse and the rising moon is very enjoyable to watch, it is a pity that we cannot see the process of the moon being eaten "bite by bite"!

So why is it that what we see at the beginning in almost all places in our country is the process after the moon is shining?

The main reason lies in the rotation of the earth and the revolution of the moon . The movement of the two celestial bodies causes the projection of the moon on the ground to appear as a very wide wavy line, which is a bit similar to the sub-satellite point curve of the polar-orbiting satellite that everyone is familiar with, because the moon itself is also a satellite of the earth!

The area where the entire lunar eclipse can be seen is on the east side of my country, and only North America and northeastern Russia can see the entire eclipse.

Partial lunar eclipse visible on November 19, 2021

Why does a partial lunar eclipse also appear as a red blood moon?

The name "blood moon" appears every time there is a total lunar eclipse. This is because the sunlight is refracted and split when it passes through the Earth's atmosphere. The red light with the largest wavelength is deflected and just shines on the moon, while light bands of other colors just "pass by" the edge.

If the moon were bigger, it would not be a blood moon, but a makeup moon.

This Friday's partial lunar eclipse will be so large that only a very small part of the moon will be illuminated by white light, and the rest of the area will naturally be covered by the split red light.

The moon that has just risen has an extremely low altitude angle, so the sunlight it reflects at this moment has to pass through a thick atmosphere. Coupled with the scattering effect, the moon, which was originally covered with a " rust red makeup ", has to be given a layer of yellow foundation and a bright white curved little headdress. This look is very exciting!

Tips for viewing and photographing the moon

Although the celestial phenomena are beautiful, safety always comes first. Whether watching or photographing, you must choose a safe and secure location. Don't walk on the road while looking up at the sky.

The grasp of weather information is particularly critical in astronomical observation . This Friday, there will be snowfall in parts of Xinjiang, Gansu, Inner Mongolia, and Heilongjiang. There will be light rain in parts of Northwest China, Huanghuai, Southwest China, Jiangnan, and South China. At the same time, fog may occur in parts of Hebei, Shandong, Jiangsu, Anhui, Jiangxi, Yunnan and other places. These are all unfavorable meteorological conditions for observation. Everyone can continue to pay attention to the forecasts and real-time meteorological information of the meteorological department, and plan and adjust the observation plan in a timely manner.

Here we also remind friends who plan to shoot or watch for a long time to keep warm!

Because from today, a strong cold air will blow from west to east across most of China, bringing strong winds and cooling weather to most of China. This cold air process has the characteristics of a wide impact range, low minimum temperature, and strong winds on land and at sea , and should not be underestimated.

It is expected that in the next two days (November 19th to 20th), affected by strong cold air, the temperature in northern and eastern Xinjiang, Gansu, northern Qinghai, western and southeastern Inner Mongolia, western Jilin, northern and western Heilongjiang will drop by 6~10℃. Among them, the local temperature in Altay area of ​​northern Xinjiang and northern Heilongjiang will drop by 10~14℃. There will be northerly winds of 5~6 in northern Xinjiang, northern Tibet, central and eastern Northwest China, central and western Inner Mongolia, and parts of western North China, with gusts of 7~9.

Finally, here’s a little tip: find a suitable geographical location and ground buildings, use a telephoto lens and a foreground that is far away from the shooting location, and you can take a “super moon photo” with outstanding visual effects.

I wish you all a happy moon-watching~~!

Produced by China Meteorological News Agency

Author: Han Dayang, National Satellite Meteorological Center

Image source: National Satellite Meteorological Center, Central Meteorological Observatory, Internet

Editor: Li Huishuake

Review: Duan Haoshu