On Monday, on August 7, in Russia, with the exception of Chukotka and Kamchatka, a private lunar eclipse will be observed. In Moscow, the phenomenon will be seen from 20:24 to 22:19. It is about what is a rare astronomical phenomenon, as it may affect the human body, as well as where it is best to observe - in the RT material.
On the evening of August 7, Russians will be able to observe a private lunar eclipse. At 20:00 Moscow time, the Earth satellite will take up the horizon, being in a fellow of the planet, and in the period from 20:24 to 22:19 Moscow time Moon will pass through the northern part of the planet's shadow and plunge into the earthly shadow. The maximum eclipse phase will occur at 21:20. The moon will plunge into the shadow of the Earth to the southern edge of 0.25 lunar diameters.
"The lunar eclipse can be observed from almost any point of the globe. The only restriction is the daylight, it will interfere. That is, almost the entire night side of the earth can observe a private lunar eclipse, "said RT director of the State Astronomical Institute named after Sternberg (Gaish) Moscow State University, Academician Anatoly Cherepaschuk.
Cherepaschuk stressed that in Russia to observe the eclipse more profitable from its European part. On Chukotka and Kamchatka will miss him - there will be morning at that moment.
But the inhabitants of different parts of Europe, Asia, Africa and Australia will also get the opportunity to see how part of the lunar disk will change the color on the burgundy red. It is because of this characteristic "staining" this phenomenon is called the "bloody moon".
"If we consider the full lunar eclipse when the moon goes completely into the earthly shadow, and we will be on the moon, we will see the earth framed by a red rim. This through the atmosphere is refracted by sun rays. Red rim hits the moon. Not always red, it happens gray-brown, "says Senior Researcher of the Institute of Applied Astronomy RAS Nikolay Zheleznov.
You can see an eclipse and a naked eye, but it is best to arm a telescope.
"You will simply see the shadow on the moon - such a semicircle from the ground and some area of \u200b\u200bthe field, inside the dark shadow will not be black, and the red," explains the Turtle.
Observation in the Moscow planetarium will begin an hour to the maximum phase. If clear weather is preserved until the end of the day, an event dedicated to the eclipse will be held on an astronomical site - visitors will see an eclipse into telescopes, and also learn about the features of the phases of this event from specialists.
According to scientists, tides and flows during the lunar eclipse will be maximum, however, people who have no health problems, it will not affect.
Dark Moon
The lunar eclipses occur when the moon enters the shadow cone, which the earth discardes. In some cases, the satellite can be darkened completely. In the case when the moon enters the shadow of the Earth partially, we are talking about a private eclipse. There is also a private half-blooded eclipse - then the satellite is only in the mandate of the planet. Powder eclipses are weak, and often see them only in the middle, since the semi-leaved phases are not available for the human eye.
"When the earth, the sun and the moon are located about one straight line, the shadow of the land falls to the moon, and we see the large part of the Earth. By the way, at the beginning of our era, smart people said that, since the shadow of the Earth is a round, then the earth has a spheroid form. That is, you will directly see the confirmation of the round shape of the Earth, "said Cherepshuk.
Lunar eclipses occur at least twice a year. This year, on February 11, the Russians have already observed a half-blooded eclipse of the moon. Then the satellite was immersed in the half of the planet per 1.02 of its own diameter. In 2018, according to astronomers, two complete shadow eclipses are expected - January 31 and July 27. In 2019, two lunar eclipses will also be held, and in 2020 - four (but all - half-meter).
There, high
On the night of August 12, another important astronomical phenomenon will be held: Star rain. It is expected to see you can see up to hundreds of meteors per hour - but most likely, in the metropolis starfall will not be noticeable, and to see it, you will have to get out of town.
However, the most important event of the last month of summer, the solar eclipse is August 21, the Russians will not find: his visibility strip will pass through North America. Purchase private phases will be able to residents of Chukotka.
Once, after one of the expeditions of Christopher Columbus, all edible reserves and water on the vessel approached the end, and the attempts to negotiate with the Indians did not bring success, knowledge about the approaching lunar eclipse was to the navigator a colossal service.
He stated to local residents that if they won't send food to him until the evening, he would pick out the night shining. Those only laughed in response, but when at night the moon began to darken and acquired a crimson tint, they simply came terror. Water and edible supplies were immediately delivered to the ship, and the Turks on the knees asked Columbus to return to the sky shone. The navigator could not refuse them in the request - and a few minutes later the moon again shone in the sky.
The lunar eclipse can be seen in the full moon when its shadow falls on the ground satellite (for this, the planet should be between the sun and the moon). Since the night luminaries from the Earth separates at least 363 thousand km, and the diameter of the shadow, which the planet discards, in two and a half times the diameter of the satellite when the moon covers the earth's shadow, it turns out to be completely darkened.
It does not always happen: sometimes the shadow closes the satellite partially, and sometimes it does not reach the shade and it turns out to be near her cone, in half, when only the weak darkening of one of the satellite edge is noticeably. Therefore, in the lunar calendars, the degree of dimming is measured in values \u200b\u200bfrom 0 and f:
- The beginning and end of a private (partial) eclipse period - 0;
- The beginning and end of the private phase - from 0.25 to 0.75;
- The beginning and end of the full eclipse period - 1;
- The period of the highest phase is 1.005.
Lunar knots
One of the indispensable conditions necessary for the onset of the full lunar eclipse is the intimacy of the moon to the node (in this place the lunar orbit intersects with ecliptic).
Since the plane of the orbit of the night luminaries is tilted to the plane of the earth orbit at an angle of five degrees, the satellite, crossing the ecliptic, moves towards the north pole, reaching which turns in the opposite direction and moves down to the southern one. The points where the satellite orbit intersects with points of ecliptic, is called lunar nodes.
When the moon is located near the node, you can see the full lunar eclipse (usually once every six months). Interestingly, for the lunar knots, uncharacterically constant stay at one point of the ecliptic, as they constantly shift along the zodiac constellation line against the sun and the moon, making one turn in 18 years and 6 months. Therefore, to determine when the nearest full lunar eclipse is best on the calendar. For example, if they were in November and May, next year they will occur in October and April, then in September and March.
When there is a wondrous phenomenon
If the orbit of the Moon coincided all the time with the line of ecliptic, the eclipses would pass every month and would be an absolutely ordinary phenomenon. Since the satellite is mainly higher or below the earthly orbit, the shadow of our planet covers it two, maximum three times a year.
At this time, the new or full moon is just staying near one of its nodes (within the twelve degrees on both sides), and the sun, the earth and the moon are located on the same line. In this case, you can first see the eclipse of the Sun, and in two weeks, during the full phase of the moon - the lunar (these two types of eclipse always go a couple).
It happens that the lunar eclipse does not occur at all: it happens when the sun, the earth and the moon do not turn out to be at the right moment on one straight line, and the earthly shadow or passes by the satellite, or affects it. True, an event is almost indistinguishable, since the brightness of the satellite at this time decreases only slightly and you can only see it through telescopes (if the moon, staying in the half-blooded eclipse, passes very close to the shadow cone, you can see the weak darkening on one side) . If the satellite turns out to be in the shadows only in part, there is a private lunar eclipse: the part of the heavenly shine darkens, the other remains in a half-way and illuminated by the rays of the sun.
How the eclipse occurs
Since the shadow of the Earth is much more satellite, the night luminaries to bear it, sometimes it takes a lot of time, so the full lunar eclipse can last as a very short period of time, about four to five minutes, and more than an hour (for example, the maximum fixed range of the phase On the night of the lunar eclipse was 108 minutes).
The duration of this phenomenon will largely depend on the arrangement of three celestial luminaries to each other.
If you watch the moon from the northern hemisphere, you can see that the earthly half closes the moon on the left side. After half an hour, the satellite of our planet completely turns out to be in the shade - and on the night of the lunar eclipse, the dark red or brown shade acquires. The sun rays light the satellite even during a complete eclipse and, along the tangent line, pass relative to the earth's surface, scattered in the atmosphere, reaching the night shone.
Since the red has the longest wave, it, unlike other colors, does not disappear and reaches the lunar surface, highlighting it with red, the shade of which largely depends on the state of the earth's atmosphere at the moment. The brightness of the satellite on the night of the lunar eclipse is determined by a special Danjon scale:
- 0 - full lunar eclipse, satellite will be almost not visible;
- 1 - moon of dark gray color;
- 2 - satellite of ground gray-brown;
- 3 - for the moon is characterized by a reddish-brown shade;
- 4 - satellite copper-red, visible very clearly and all parts of the lunar surface vary well.
If you compare the photos that were filmed on the night of the lunar eclipse in a different period, you can see that the color of the moon is different. For example, the satellite of the Earth during the summer eclipse of 1982 was red, whereas in the winter of 2000, the moon was brown tone.
The history of the lunar calendar
People have long understood how important the moon is played in the life of the planet, and therefore all its activities were planned, focusing on its phases (new moon, full moon, descending, eclipse), since they were the most observed celestial phenomena.
It is not surprising that the lunar calendar is considered the most ancient calendar of the world: it was for him that people in the early stages of their development were determined when they need to start and finish the sowing work, watched the influence of the moon on the growth of vegetation, behind the tides and lowers and even at how night The luminaire affects the human body, which, as you know, contains a large amount of liquids.
It is impossible to determine which people first created the lunar calendar. The first items that were used as lunar calendars were found in France and Germany and were created thirty thousand years ago. These were the applied signs in the form of a crescent or winding lines on the walls of the caves, stones or bones of animals.
Lunar calendars were also found, created eighteen thousand years ago in Russia near the city of Achinsk in the territory of the Krasnoyarsk Territory. A calendar was found in Scotland, whose age is at least ten thousand years.
The modern view of the lunar calendar gave the Chinese, who are already in the II thousand BC. Formed the main provisions, and used it up to the XX century. Also, an important role in the development of the lunar calendar belongs to the Hindus, which for the first time gave the main descriptions of the phases, lunar days and the positions of the Moon relative to the Earth and the Sun.
The lunar calendar was replaced by Sunny, because during the formation of a sedentary lifestyle, it became obvious that agricultural work was still tied to the time of the year, that is, to the sun. The lunar calendar was inconvenient due to the fact that the lunar month does not have a stable time and constantly shifts for 12 hours. For 34 solar years, one extra moon year falls.
Nevertheless, the moon had a sufficient impact. For example, the modern Grigorian calendar, taken about five hundred years ago, contains in itself the statements, hoped from the lunar calendars, as the number of days in the week and even the term "month".
What could be more unshakable from the point of view of common sense, than a daily cycle shone in the sky? The sun disc shining in the afternoon is replaced by pale moon radiance, and this happens every day for many years.
But one day a dark shadow suddenly crashes on a clear moon and absorbs her. Although the event lasts no longer than half an hour, after which the night luminaire comes out of the darkness and again shines, as if nothing had happened, on those who know nothing about the lunar eclipses, it can make an oppressive impression.
In fact, in the lunar eclipses there is nothing ominous or mystical, this is a common natural phenomenon that is easy to explain even to schoolchildren of junior classes.
How is the lunar eclipse?
As we know, the moon shines not by itself. Its surface reflects the sun's rays, at the expense of which it occurs this exquisite pale radiance, singing that poets like so much. , Moon from time to time enters the shadow, discarded the earth.
At these moments there is a partial lunar eclipse - the shadow of the earth can cover a part of the moon disk for several minutes. If the moon is fully included in the shadow of our planet, then we can observe a full lunar eclipse. 
From the surface of the Earth, the eclipse looks like a round shadow, gradually climbing on the moon and in the end absorbing moon disk. At the same time, the moon does not disappear completely, but acquires a dark crimson tint due to the refraction of the sun's rays. The shadow, discarded by the Earth, is 2.5 times the area of \u200b\u200bour satellite, so the moon can be completely covered with it. After a few minutes of complete blackout, the lunar disc is gradually coming out of the shade.
Conditions necessary for the eclipse of the moon
In order for the moon to be completely covered with shadow of the Earth, you need the sun, earth and our satellite on one straight line, and the moon should be located behind the earth. In those moments, when this condition is observed, but the moon is in front of our planet, solar, and not lunar eclipses occur. Unfortunately, the trajectories of the movement of the Earth and the Moon in their orbits are far from the ideal, so they rarely line up on a straight line.
For one year, no more than three lunar eclipses may occur, and they can all be partial only. Moreover, even partial eclipses happen not every year. Observations may prevent bad weather, or the eclipse is observed only on the opposite side of the moon. 
The full cycle of lunar eclipses is repeated with periodicity of 18 years - this means that if the sky is not closed with clouds, every 18 years you can observe a full lunar eclipse.
By the way, the cyclical of eclipses often helps the historians to clarify the dates of those or other events mentioned in the chronicles. Vintage chronicles necessarily noted every case of the eclipse of the moon or the sun. Because all of them are easily calculated by astronomers, the events that occurred at this time are easily tied to the exact dates.
How can I see the lunar eclipse?
The possibility of observing the lunar eclipse falls not to all. Sometimes a person can live all his life, but never once does not see the fascinating spectacle of the disappearing moon. But if you really want to observe with your own eyes this astronomical phenomenon, you just need to find the eclipse table in the Astronomy directory or on one of the astronomical sites and choose the nearest date when the lunar eclipse is visible on the territory where you live. 
If you are lucky, and that night will be a good cloudless weather, nothing hurts you admire the beautiful and a little terrible spectacle of the "Moon's absorption".
The lunar eclipse is called a natural phenomenon, during which the moon enters the region of the earth's shadow. When the lunar eclipse comes, on the line at the same time the moon with the sun and the earth should be located. It turns out that the moon is blown away from the sun with the help of the Earth. This means that the eclipse is possible exclusively in full moon. At this time you can see the moon, which is shaded from the ground completely or partially. It is possible to observe the eclipse from the part of our planet, which is located above the horizon.
Private lunar eclipse
The diameter of the earth's shadow exceeds the lunar 2.5 times, which is why the earthly shadow covers the entire disk of the moon. In a situation where it happens, the eclipse is complete. If the moon's partial immersion occurs in the earth's shadow, then such an eclipse is considered private.
In those situations where the line of the moon with the Sun and Earth is far from ideal, a variant is possible, in which the eclipse phase will not come. It is also possible that the earthly shadow will affect the edge of the lunar disk, it will cover the half.
The duration of the phases of any eclipse, private or complete, depends directly from the location of all 3 of the above-mentioned celestial bodies. The largest duration of the lunar eclipse is capable of reaching 108 minutes. From the same reason, the brightness of the lunar disk with the full lunar eclipse is depends. There are cases when the moon is not visible at all, and it happens that the moon is so bright that observers do not even believe that the lunar eclipse has come.
Anchive, which is present around the cone of the earth's shadow, can partially obscure the sun. When the moon begins to pass this area, but it does not enter the shadow, the half-blooded eclipse occurs. The brightness of the moon becomes smaller, but quite a bit. A similar decrease in brightness is not to see the naked eye, it can only fix the devices.
Even when the lunar eclipse is complete, the moon does not disappear at all, becoming dark red. There is an explanation for this: with the onset of full eclipse, the rays of the sun illuminate the moon and on. These rays shine regarding the earth's surface, refracted, and then dissipated in the earth's atmosphere.
The atmosphere of the Earth is able to absorb the short-wave spectra parts of blue and blue shades, but at the same time, without any problems to skip red. They reach the lunar surface when an eclipse occurs. This phenomenon has the same nature that is observed in the staining western part of the sky in the gentle pink color of the sun's rays.
The lunar eclipse occurs when the moon (in the full moon phase) enters the cone shadow dropped by the earth. The diameter of the shadow of the earth at a distance of 363,000 km (the minimum moon distance from the Earth) is about 2.5 diameters of the moon, so the moon can be shaded entirely. The lunar eclipse can be observed in half the territory of the Earth (where at the time of the eclipse of the moon is above the horizon). The view of the shaded moon from any point of observation is the same. The maximum theoretically possible duration of the full phase of the lunar eclipse is 108 minutes; Such were, for example, lunar eclipses on August 13, 1859, July 16, 2000.
At each moment of the eclipse, the degree of cover of the disk of the moon of the earth shadow is expressed by the phase of the Eclipse F. The value of the phase is determined by the distance 0 from the center of the moon to the center of the shadow. In astronomical calendars, the values \u200b\u200bof F and 0 are given for different moments of the eclipse.
If the moon falls into the full shadow of the Earth only partially, is observed private eclipse. With it, part of the moon is dark, and a part, even in the maximum phase, remains in a half-sense and illuminated by sunlight.
There is a half-length around the cone of the Earth's shade - the area in which the Earth flashes the sun only partially. If the moon passes the region of the half, but not included in the shadow, occurs half Eclipse. With it, the brightness of the moon decreases, but insignificant: such a decrease is almost unnoticed by the naked eye and is fixed only by the instruments. Only when the moon in the half-heeled eclipse passes near the cone of the complete shadow, with the clear sky you can notice a slight darkening from one edge of the moon disk.
The eclipsed moon flickers in the sky over the monument to the Savior of the world in San Salvador, Salvador, December 21, 2010.
(Jose Cabezas / AFP / GETTY IMAGES)
At the occurrence of a complete eclipse, the moon acquires a reddish or brownish shade. The eclipse color depends on the state of the upper layers of the earth's atmosphere, since only the light passed through it illuminates the moon during a complete eclipse. If you compare the pictures of full lunar eclipses of different years, it is easy to see the difference in color. For example, an eclipse on July 6, 1982 was reddish, and the eclipse on January 20, 2000 had a brown shade. Such colors of the moon acquires during eclipses due to the fact that the earthly atmosphere dispels the red rays, so you can never watch, say, blue or green lunar eclipse. But full eclipses differ not only by color, but also brightness. Yes, it is, brightness, and there is a special scale to determine the brightness of a complete eclipse, called Danjon scale (in honor of the French astronomer Andre Dangon, 1890-1967).
The gradation of the Danjon scale has 5 points. 0 - Eclipse is very dark (the moon barely guess in the sky), 1 - Eclipse dark gray (details are noticeable on the moon), 2 - Eclipse gray with brown tint, 3 - Light red-brown eclipse, 4 - very bright copper-red eclipse (The moon is visible clearly, and distinguishable all the basic details of the surface).
If the plane of the lunar orbit lay in the plane of the ecliptic, then the lunar (as well as solar) eclipses would occur every month. But most of the time the moon is spent either higher, or below the plane of the earth orbit due to the fact that the plane of the lunar orbit has a five-grade slope to the plane of the Earth's orbits. As a result, the natural satellite of the Earth falls into its shadow only twice a year, that is, at a time when the nodes of the lunar orbit (the points of its intersection with the plane of the ecliptic) are on the line of the Sun-Earth. Then the solar eclipse is happening to the new moon, and in the full moon - the lunar.
Each year there are at least two lunar eclipses, however, due to the mismatch of the planes of the lunar and earthly orbits, their phases differ. Eclipses are repeated in the same manner every 6585⅓ days (or 18 years 11 days and ~ 8 hours - a period called Saros); Knowing where and when a full lunar eclipse was observed, you can accurately determine the time of subsequent and previous eclipses that are well-visible in this area. This cyclicity often helps accurately dating events described in historical chronicles. The history of lunar eclipses goes far into the past. The first full lunar eclipse is registered in the ancient Chinese chronicles. Using the calculations managed to calculate that it occurred on January 29, 1136 BC. e. Another three complete lunar eclipses were recorded in Almagesta Claudia Ptolemy (March 19, 721 BC, March 8 and September 1, 720 BC). In history, lunar eclipses are often described, which helps to establish an accurate date of a historical event. For example, the military officer of the Athenian army was frightened by the beginning of the full lunar eclipse, a panic began in the army, which led to the death of Athenian. Thanks to astronomical calculations, it was possible to establish what it happened on August 27, 413 BC. e.
In the Middle Ages, the full lunar eclipse was provided by Christopher Columbus a large service. His regular expedition on the island of Jamaica was in a difficult position, food and drinking water were on the outcome, and people threatened with hungry death. Columbus attempts to get food from local Indians ended to no avail. But Columbus knew that on March 1, 1504, a full lunar eclipse should occur, and in the evening he warned the leaders of the tribes living on the island that he would kidnap the moon if they were not delivered to the ship and water. Indians only laughed and left. But as soon as the eclipse began, Indians embraced indescribable horror. Products and water were immediately delivered, and leaders kneeling Columbus to bring them the moon. Columbus, naturally, could not "refuse" in this request, and soon the moon, to the delight of the Indians, again shone in heaven. As we see, the usual astronomical phenomenon can be very useful, and the knowledge of astronomy is simply necessary for travelers.
Observations of lunar eclipses can bring some scientific benefits, as they give material to study the structure of the earth's shadow and the state of the upper layers of the atmosphere of the Earth. Amateur observations of private lunar eclipses are reduced to accurate registration of moments of contacts, photographing, sketches and descriptions of changes in the brightness of the moon and lunar objects in the trembling part of the moon. The moments of the moon disk with the earth's shadow and the convergence of it are fixed (with possibly greater accuracy) by the clock, verified by the exact time signals. The contacts of the earth's shadow with large objects on the moon should be noted. Observations can be carried out with a naked eye, in binoculars or telescope. The accuracy of observations is naturally increased when observed in the telescope. To register an eclipse contacts, you must install the maximum increase in the telescope for it and direct it to the appropriate dial points of the moon disk with the earth's shadow a few minutes before the predicted point. All records are recorded in the notebook (Eclipse Observation Journal).
If an astronomy is at the disposal of an astronomy, there is a photoexponometer (device measuring the brightness of the object), then with it, you can build a chart of changing the brightness of the lunar disk during an eclipse. To do this, it is necessary to establish an exposure meter so that its sensitive element is directed exactly to the Moon disk. The instrument readings are removed every 2-5 minutes, and written to the table with three columns: the number of brightness measurement, time and brightness of the moon. At the end of the eclipse, using the table data, it will be possible to display a chart of changing the brightness of the moon during this astronomical phenomenon. As an exposure meter, any camera can be used, where there is an automatic exposure system with an exposure scale.
Photographing a phenomenon can be made by any camera having a removable lens. When shooting an eclipse, the lens from the camera is removed, and the body of the apparatus is adjusted to the ocular part of the telescope with the adapter. It will be a shot with an ocular magnification. If your camera's lens is fixed, then you can simply post the device to the telescope eyepiece, but the quality of such a picture will be worse. If your camera has or video cameras, the zoom function, the need for additional magnifying tools, as a rule, disappears, because The dimensions of the moon with a maximum increase in such a chamber are sufficient for filming.
However, the best quality of the pictures is obtained when photographing the moon in the direct focus of the telescope. In such an optical system, the lens of the telescope automatically becomes the lens of the camera, only with a large focal length.