The 'Blood Moon' event takes place next week

This astronomical phenomenon "Moon blood" will take place in the morning of April 15.

On the night of April 14, dawn on April 15, people from North America, the coast of South America, West Africa and Australia will witness one of the most remarkable astronomical phenomena in year - full red eclipse. The eclipse will start at 4am (Vietnamese time) and last for about 60 minutes.

At this time, the Earth's darkness will completely cover the Moon in about 60 minutes. The moon will no longer have the usual yellow color but instead is red - something many people call it the "Blood Moon" phenomenon .

But why when the full lunar eclipse happens, we don't see the black moon but instead the blood is red? Astronomers have provided solutions to this phenomenon.

We all know that eclipses happen when the Earth completely shines light from the Sun to the Moon. But even when the Earth blocks all the rays coming from the Sun to the Moon, these rays can still "glide" across the surface of the Earth and reflect on the Moon.

The light from the Sun has components that cover all colors with different wavelengths. When sunlight passes through the Earth's atmosphere, due to scattering, short wavelengths such as blue, purple . will be absorbed almost entirely by the atmosphere, only the light is colored towards Red - with a long wavelength of light, is capable of penetrating the atmosphere most.

At the same time, the Earth's atmosphere as a giant converging lens causes red light to pass through, which tends to shift to the main axis of the shadow region. This light illuminated the Moon as it passed through this area. Therefore, we see the Moon is red when it comes to the lunar eclipse.

The moon will change different shades throughout the phases of the lunar eclipse, starting from dark gray to bronze red, possibly amber. However, the "glow" of this red color may be affected by the density of dust, water vapor exists in the Earth's atmosphere at the time of the eclipse.

The whole lunar eclipse - when the Moon gradually turns red

In favorable conditions - the sky is cloudless, without rain, the whole United States will have the opportunity to admire this unique phenomenon. When observing the lunar eclipse, we can completely observe with the naked eye without any eye protection device. However, observing the lunar eclipse will be more interesting when using binoculars and small telescopes, because at that time, you can clearly see the surface of the Moon, especially when they are tinged with a red color during the period. real.

According to a NASA press release, the "Blood Moon" phenomenon will occur twice in 2014. The first time takes place on April 15, the second time on October 8.

This "blood moon" that takes place on April 15 is a special event when it will start a cycle of 4 full lunar eclipses. The next three full-time eclipses will take place in October 2014, April 2015 and September 2015 respectively.

Vietnam has no chance to admire the occurrence of the "Blood Moon" phenomenon on April 15. But the phenomenon of total eclipse on October 8 will be one of the most remarkable astronomical phenomena in 2014 for observers in Vietnam.