Blood Moon will occur on May 26th, 2021
Recently, astronomers have announced that, on May 26, 2021, the event of a blood moon will be seen in the sky. However, earlier on 20-21 January 2019, the blood moon incident was seen.
What is Blood moon?
- A blood moon occurs when a full lunar eclipse happens. In the event of a full lunar eclipse, when the entire shadow of the Earth falls on the Moon, only some rays of the Sun are refracted from the Earth’s atmosphere and fall on the Moon. During this time the moon looks red or ruddy brown. This is called the blood moon.
Why does the moon change color during a blood moon?
- During the full moon, in the event of a lunar eclipse, the moon is completely in the shadow of the Earth. But even at this time, some of the sunlight reaching the earth at sunrise and sunset falls on the moon.
- During sunrise and sunset, the sky is red in color. This means that out of all the seven VIBGYOR colors in white light, only red reaches Earth during this period. This red light is reflected on the moon, which makes the moon appear red.
What is a lunar eclipse?
- This phenomenon is called lunar eclipse when the Earth comes between the Sun and the Moon. In this, the sunlight does not reach the moon, due to which the shadow of the earth starts falling on the moon and it becomes dark there. When the Earth, Sun, and Moon are located along almost the same line, it is called a full lunar eclipse.
Are there eclipses on every full moon days?
- The orbit or plane in which the Earth revolves around the Sun and the orbit or plane in which the Moon revolves around the Earth is different. Lunar eclipse occurs only when both these orbits or planes fall in the same line.
Why does the sky turn red at sunset and sunrise?
- Sunlight has to travel long distances to reach the surface of the Earth. This means that during this time of day, light has to withstand more atmospheric particles. These particles disperse the maximum amount of light. Of all the VIBGYOR colors in sunlight, the red color has the highest wavelength and thus reaches the surface of the Earth. Other colors tend to disintegrate during their journey towards Earth.
What is Blue Moon?
- When there are two full moon days in a calendar month, the moon of the second full moon is called ‘Blue Moon’, which has nothing to do with blue. When there is an interval of less than 31 days between two full moon days, such a rare astronomical event occurs.
What is Super Moon?
- ‘Super moon is a term mainly given by astrologers in 1970 When the Moon is closest to the Earth in its orbit, that position is called a ‘super moon’. It is also called Perigee Full Moon. In this, the moon is 14 percent larger and 30 percent brighter.
Source – The Hindu
