“We managed to observe it for about three minutes“, rejoiced Monday May 16 on franceinfo Hervé Dole, professor of astrophysics who got up very early, with his students, to follow the total lunar eclipse from the roof of the Paris-Saclay university. Cloudy skies made observation difficult, and the lucky ones were able to see the eclipse with the naked eye around 6 a.m. in mainland France. “We couldn’t see when it was really completely red. But the students and I were delighted to see a little bit of this phenomenon”he explained.
The weather conditions were not favorable. Were you able to see this total eclipse?
Herve Dole: Indeed, we managed to observe this very beautiful phenomenon that is the total lunar eclipse for about three minutes. In metropolitan France, the phenomenon is over, but we had a few minutes of clearings. So I hope that the French were able to see this moon eaten by the shadow of the Earth a little bit. We couldn’t see when it was really completely red.
How to explain this red color?
In fact, the Moon passes through the shadow of the Earth. So, one could imagine that it disappears completely. But this is not completely the case. In fact, the sun’s rays still pass a little bit through the Earth’s atmosphere and therefore it is tinged with red, a bit like at sunrise or sunset, where there is a reddening due to the atmosphere. It is a very beautiful color. It actually depends on the activity of the Earth’s atmosphere. When there have been volcanic eruptions, where the upper atmosphere is charged with particles, for example, the color that there is on the lunar eclipse, very red, is much deeper in these cases. It happened a few years ago. There, we had a bit of red. It was very nice. During the three minutes that we could see, between the very low clouds at daybreak, we saw red which was quite light. We couldn’t see when it was really completely red. But the students and I were delighted to see this phenomenon a little bit, since we got up early.
Is this a fairly rare phenomenon?
There is twice a year, a time when the three stars, the Sun, the Earth and the Moon are roughly aligned. And so, when it’s night, it’s a total lunar eclipse, and then during the day, it would be a total solar eclipse. In general, this takes place around the same time. The next one will be around November. For total solar eclipses, indeed, where the Moon can completely hide the Sun, it gives majestic phenomena, but even rarer to observe because the band of totality of a solar eclipse is very small.
When will the next total lunar eclipse occur?
It will be in 2025. There will be two, but they will be very little visible, like the one this morning, which was really very partially visible. But the most beautiful, indeed, it will be December 20, 2029, completely visible in mainland France all night long. It will be majestic.