Another astronomical phenomenon is taking place and this time it will be visible all over Brazil – including Rio de Janeiro! It’s the total lunar eclipse, also known as the ‘Blood Moon’. And why the name? Find out more about the lunar eclipse in Rio!
Find out when the first lunar eclipse of the year will be!
The first lunar eclipse of the year will take place in March, in the early hours of Thursday 13th to Friday 14th, and will be visible all over Brazil, as well as throughout South, North and Central America.
Cariocas who are awake will be able to watch the lunar eclipse in Rio from 00:57 (Brasilia time), when the penumbra begins to appear.
However, the eclipse itself starts to become more visible from 2am and reaches its peak at 3.26am.
If you can’t observe the phenomenon with the naked eye, the National Observatory will broadcast it live at 00:30 on March 14.
What is a Blood Moon? Understand the phenomenon
If you have no idea what a lunar eclipse is and why, in this case, it’s called a Blood Moon, we’ll tell you!
A lunar eclipse happens when the Sun, Earth and Moon are aligned and the Moon passes through the Earth’s shadow. When this happens, the Earth blocks the sunlight that is normally reflected by the Moon – which makes the Moon shine in the sky!
So, in the case of a total eclipse like this one, the Moon is completely in shadow with the Earth passing in front of it – impressive, right? What’s more, according to NASA, this phenomenon can only occur during a full moon.
But why ‘Blood Moon’? The total eclipse gets its name because, during the event, the moon turns shades of orange and red.
This is because, according to Nasa, during this eclipse there is a process technically called “Rayleigh scattering”.
In this case, the blue light ends up being dispersed by the Earth’s atmosphere, while the orange and red lights “shine” more easily in the sky. In addition, the more dust or clouds in the Earth’s atmosphere during the eclipse, the redder the Moon will appear.
Finally, it’s worth remembering that unlike the solar eclipse, the lunar eclipse can be viewed without eye protection!