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The lunar eclipse takes place during the full moon when the earth’s shadow covers the moon’s surface. The shadow prevents the moon from receiving any light from the sun’s rays which are reflected on its surface. More so, when the moon is completely covered by the earth’s shadow, that is, they are in the same line, a total lunar eclipse occurs. The lunar eclipse will only take place when all the three bodies involved in the process of its formation are on a straight line. These bodies are the sun, the earth, and the moon. It is rare for these bodies to be aligned in an ideal straight line due to the differences in their alignment angles and this is the reason why lunar eclipses do not occur monthly.
The shadows formed on the moon by the earth vary in the intensity of darkness. Thus, the lunar eclipse is clearly visible when the shadow is umbra rather than the penumbra, since it is the darkest of the two shadows formed, although it has a shorter time span. Furthermore, when being viewed such an eclipse does not require protection because it is dimmer than the full moon and also during this time the moon’s color changes to red or copper and thus it can be easily seen.
Total lunar eclipse occurs when the moon is fully covered by the earth’s shadow and thus it does not receive any light at all. This total darkness on the moon’s surface resembles the color of blood “thick red” and thus the name blood moon occurred. This color is formed due to the dispersion of light particles in the atmosphere of the earth’s surface. The other colors are blocked and scattered while the red color easily goes through due to its low wavelength making the total eclipse easy to view.
Their blood red or coppery color depend on the amount of particles available in the atmosphere and thus, the more the particles, the darker the red color. However, if the earth’s atmosphere was absent the moon would have been dark and not red. The lunar eclipse accounts to more than a third of all the eclipses formed in the universe. The total eclipse takes place in three phases that are; partial, penumbral and total.
Partial lunar eclipse takes place when a small portion of the moon’s surface goes through the dark shadow formed by the earth’s surface (Kasparek 434). These eclipses occur rarely since they cannot be easily seen during the day, but can be observed easily from the night side of the earth’s surface. They present less than a third of all eclipses formed.
The penumbral eclipse occurs during a period when the moon’s surface is slightly covered by an outer shadow formed by the earth. Although some of the sun’s light is reflected on the surface of the moon, this type of eclipse is not clearly visible. It is estimated to form slightly more than a third of all eclipses, but due to the difficulty in visibility they may be more or less visible by a man from the earth. A total penumbral lunar eclipse though rarely happens when the moon lies perfectly in the penumbra of the earth, it comprises about 35% of all eclipses (Kasparek 434).
The period taken by the moon to make a complete circle around the earth’s orbit is approximately one month. In the event of the full moon, the satellite traverses under or over the shadows of the earth and bypasses them completely hence no eclipse can occur. It is important to note that the moon behaves as a satellite to the earth’s surface.
Lunar eclipses are historic events, which do not occur very often. They are named and recorded in many historical accounts and have been tied to occurrences like lost battles and enabled the warriors make remarkable escapes. The phases of lunar eclipses were first given by the Greek Philosopher Anaxagoras around 450 BC.
In 350BC Greek philosopher Aristotle noticed that the round outer shadow of the earth on the moon was a confirmation that the earth was circular in shape. Flavius Josephus, a Jewish historian, documented some occurrences of lunar eclipses in his works. During the death of King Herod, Flavius wrote that on the same night there was the moon’s eclipse. This eclipse had been dated March 13, 4 BC. This aids in getting the date of the death of King Herod and also aids to determine the adopted lineage of Jesus.
Furthermore, in the ancient times when exploration of the earth was still taking place, the explorers used the lunar eclipse to establish different locations far away from already occupied lands by triangulating their longitudes. If it happens when the moon is up in the sky from a familiar location, the same eclipse is observed as the moon is soaring up in a different place away from the west and also noticeable as settling in the east. In the midst of all these, the moon’s position could be obtained with the help of the sextant (Kasparek 435). Comparing the moon’s obtained location with its forecasted location at home, a ship could known how far it was from home in longitude. Christopher Columbus used this method during his journeys of discovery.
The Chinese book Zhou- Sho, talked about lunar eclipse. The book was found in 280AD in a grave of a king. Centuries ago before that particular time, the eclipse had occurred.
In 1914-1917, the Ross Sea Party was part of Trans-Antarctic Expedition where some men who tried to cross to Cape Evans were lost. On 8th of May, two men tried to cross over, but a snowstorm occurred. After the snowstorm subsided, the remaining men searched for the way only to notice that the ice was too light and narrow to cross and they realised that they could not locate their colleagues. The full moon would help them since it would be a source of light. The weather though did not go as they wished. On July 15, the weather was perfect and the ice was thick and wide and thus the travellers started their journey only to be shocked when they realised it would soon eclipse. It was only a partial eclipse, so the men were lucky. The eclipse went on for a few hours but they managed to reach their destination.
The native people of Jamaica helped Christopher Columbus on 30th of July, 1503 when he was helpless by giving him and his members food and shelter. His sailors lied and took away stuff from the natives making them stop providing food for Columbus and his members when six months were over. Columbus had an almanac written by Regiomontanus which spans from 1475-1506 on astronomical tables. Upon reading the book, he observed the lunar eclipse which was coming. He noted expected dates and time of the occurrence. He managed to use this information for his own benefit. On that day he asked to see the cacique and said that his god was not happy with the natives’ treatment of him and his members.
Thus, to ascertain his anger he lied to the villagers that his personal god would darken the moon in an inflamed red colour. This scared the natives, the eclipse did not disappoint since it took place at the exact time as expected. He measured the lunar eclipse with the hourglass and after it the eclipse had disappeared, he told then his god would forgive them (Kasparek 476). When the moon reoccurred later he told them they had been forgiven.
Another lunar eclipse occurred during the Second battle of Syracose. The Athenians were about to go back to their place of residence when the lunar eclipse happened. The priests decided that the Athenians should wait for 27 days, which Syracusans used to their benefit. They pounced on their 86 ships and conquered the Athenians. The Athenians ships were taken to the show where Gylippus took the lives of the crew members and seized 18 stranded ships. The lunar eclipse occured when no one was expecting and this led to the loss of the battle.
Works Cited
Kasparek, Christopher. “Prus’ Pharaoh and the Solar Eclipse”, The Polish Review 8.1 (2007): 401-99. Print.
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