Observing a lunar eclipse with our own eyes is an event that we can afford no more than four times a year. The closest partial eclipse of our companion will occur on Saturday, October 28, and the Earth’s shadow will “cut off” 12.2 percent of the lunar surface between 9 p.m. and 11 p.m. The moon will be in its full moon phase at that time.
The eclipse itself is preceded by a so-called penumbra phase, but it will also be visible to the naked eye around 9 p.m. At that time you will find the moon about 35° above the southeastern horizon in the constellation of Aries. The real celestial show will begin at 21:35 CEST and last 77 minutes, with the maximum eclipse occurring at 22:14. The partial eclipse will end shortly before 10:53 PM CEST. For the entire duration of the phenomenon, Jupiter will shine brightly just 6° east of the Moon, and Saturn will also be visible above the south-southwest.
Thin clouds do not matter
The festive partial lunar eclipse (which falls on a public holiday on October 28) will be accompanied by very good viewing conditions and the phenomenon will be beautifully visible to the naked eye without binoculars, even from cities. According to photographer and astronomer Petr Horálek, even a thin layer of cloud cover will not be a problem during observation.
“Even the clouds themselves passing in front of the Moon can create interesting phenomena, as they scatter the lunar radiation on the water droplets or ice crystals from which they are formed, which usually brings conditions for, for example, the formation of a halo around the Moon, an atmospheric corona, and the like. With a partially eclipsed Moon, such a transition of a thin cloud will make the spectacle even more dramatic and clearly extremely photogenic,” said Horálek in a joint press statement of the Czech Astronomical Society and the Institute of Physics of the University of Silesia in Opava.
Partial lunar eclipse on October 28, 2023 Source: Petr Horálek
Partial lunar eclipse on October 28, 2023 Source: Petr Horálek
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In addition, on the night of October 28 to 29, summer time changes to standard time, which is also inaccurately called winter time. The night will be an hour longer as the clocks move to 2:00 at 3:00 in the morning. The next lunar eclipse visible from the Czech Republic will occur on Wednesday, September 18, 2024 in the early morning hours and will again be partial. We won’t see a total eclipse until Sunday, September 7, 2025.
Source: Astrophysical progress from Opava, Space.com
2023-10-28 04:00:07
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