The Red Eye in the Sky
On September 28th, a spectacular natural phenomenon happened and bewildered millions of people over the planet. You guessed it; there was an orange-red moon high up in the sky watching every one of us.
The blood moon, as it is commonly referred to, is actually a total lunar eclipse. This is when the moon orbits and goes behind the Earth. The Earth therefore casts a shadow onto the orb of night (the moon) because of the Sun’s rays and makes the latter appear to have a red hue. The light does not really have a colour, but because of the scattering of light upon the surface of the Earth’s atmosphere, the other colours are deviated, and red is the one least affected. This effect is known as Rayleigh scattering. When the moon is at its fullest, the Sun, the moon and the Earth are all perfectly aligned.
A lunar eclipse differs from a solar eclipse. In the latter, the moon is between the sun and the Earth. Because the moon is blocking the sun, this natural satellite is completely obstructed and it becomes pitch black because we are looking at the moon’s shadow. A solar eclipse requires the wearing of sunglasses because the UV rays coming from the sun are so powerful they can fry the retina within seconds of direct contact.
This year and last year, there were four lunar eclipses in total, back to back, with six months separating each one. This is quite rare and is called a lunar tetrad. The next one is due in 2032, starting around the month of April. The most recent lunar eclipse proved to be quite special however. As well as being a blood moon, it was also a super moon, meaning that the moon was at its closest point to earth. It is 13% larger than usual and is truly a sight worth seeing.
All in all, this natural phenomenon was a truly wonderful spectacle for kids and adults to have watched last week which will stay with them for the rest of their lives.
Written By: Charlie Tang
Originally Published: September 2015
