there moon Get ready to wear red clothes: on the night between May 15 and 16 there will be a complete eclipse, the so-called ‘moon red ‘. The phenomenon will also be visible from Italy, but only for the first part: the climax, in fact, will unfortunately be at dawn, when moon It is set, and therefore will not be noticed.
Meanwhile, the Italian Union of Astronomy Lovers (Uai) is organizing an event in cooperation with the National Institute of Astrophysics (Inaf) starting at 9.00 pm on Sunday 15 May, which we broadcast live.
The live broadcast before the eclipse organized by Uai and Inaf, starting at 21.00 on May 15th
Seeing the eclipse is still possible, provided you give up some sleep. The event is actually being broadcasted live by the Virtual Telescope Project, with images from Rome and the Americas, starting at 03.32 Italian time, the moment when moon It will begin to enter the semi-shadow cone created by the Earth as it passes in front of the Sun.
During college, but also in the advanced partial stage, the moon It acquires the characteristic color that gives its name to the phenomenon: this is due to the fact that the Earth’s atmosphere at that moment directs the red part of the electromagnetic spectrum towards the satellite. The same red aura will also appear if we look at the eclipse from moon Instead of Earth: in this case, it will be a solar eclipse, covered by the corridor of our planet.
When moon You will be completely inside the shadow cone The total phase will start at 05.29 Italian time, which will reach its maximum at 06.11. However, on May 16, our satellite will set 05.51, that is, about 20 minutes after the start of the total and 20 minutes before the highlight, so it will be possible to follow just under half of the entire phenomenon.
The total eclipse will be completely visible to the naked eye, even without the aid of binoculars or a telescope. For the occasion, our satellite will be close to the minimum distance from Earth (perihelion), a condition commonly referred to as a “supermoon”: the star will appear slightly larger than average, even if it is difficult to perceive. 2022 will present us with a second eclipse, on November 8, but the latter will be completely invisible from Italy.
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