Total Lunar Eclipse of 2021 May 26
Total Lunar Eclipse of 2021 May 26
1. How this happens
The lunar eclipse can occur only when the Moon, Earth, and Sun line up. During the full moon phase can the eclipse happen, The Sun and the Moon are on opposite ends of the Earth. At this moment, the Moon could move into the Earth’s shadow. And that’s the lunar eclipse. Since the orbit is not in a plane, the moon cannot fall completely in the shadow of the earth most of the time.
2.Time and place
On May 26, we can see the Lunar Eclipse. And this lunar eclipse is very special, the time is also this year’s maximum full moon.
The moon will rise at PM18:31, the eclipse magnitude will occur at 19:09, the third contact is 19:28 ( in China).
Since the moon cuts into the northern edge of the earth's umbra, the total eclipse lasts a quite short time, only 18.6 minutes. In addition, since the moon's elevation angle is only 10 degrees when it is the third contact, it is only possible to see the "blood moon" in an unobstructed location in the east. Why blood color? Atmospheric refraction.
This lunar eclipse is quite special, and it happens to be the biggest full moon this year! The moon passed the perigee at 9:50 that day, so when the full moon occurred at 19:14, the visual diameter of the moon was as high as 33.5 arc minutes. So that day, we will see a big red moon at a low altitude in the east! The phenomenon that a total lunar eclipse happened to be the largest full moon of the year is quite rare and worth looking forward to.
The smallest full moon this year occurred on December 19, with a visual diameter of only 29.1 arc minutes.
The below photo gives the comparison.
3.How to observe the lunar eclipse?
Observing a total lunar eclipse does not require any equipment, just choose a place near the ground level to the east where there is no shelter and the moon can be seen, and you can enjoy it with the naked eye. If you can use a tripod to fix your phone or camera, you can easily record this beautiful celestial phenomenon, or with binoculars is easy to watch the phenomenon, which is the easiest to observe of all the spectacular astronomical phenomena!
