A
total lunar eclipse will take place on 8 October 2014. It is the second
of two total lunar eclipses in 2014, and the second in a tetrad (four
total lunar eclipses in series). Other eclipses in the tetrad are those
of April 15, 2014, April 4, 2015, and September 28, 2015.
The eclipse will be visible in its entirety over the Northern Pacific.
Viewers in North America will experience the eclipse after midnight on
Wednesday, October 8, and the eclipse will be visible from the Western
Pacific, Australia, entire Indonesia, Japan and Eastern Asia after
sunset on the evening of October 8.
During the
lunar eclipse, the sun and moon will be exactly 180 degrees apart in the
sky. In a perfect alignment like this (called a “syzygy”), such an
observation would seem impossible.
The images of both the sun
and moon are expected to be lifted above the horizon by atmospheric
refraction. This will allow people on earth to see the sun for several
extra minutes before it actually has risen and the moon for several
extra minutes after it has actually set.
As a consequence of
this atmospheric trick, watchers in different locations will have a
chance to observe this unusual sight firsthand, with the possibility of
simultaneously seeing the sun rising in the east, while the eclipsed
full moon is setting in the west.
Credit: ThisDay/Wikipedia
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