Rare Experience as Lunar Eclipse is Expected to Happen on Friday

By Virginia Nyambura

The countdown to the Total Lunar Eclipse is on, also referred to as the blood moon, it is expected to happen on Friday.

It is will be a rare experience as the World will be experiencing the longest hours of the eclipse in the 21st century.

The eclipse will be visible across Europe, Asia, Africa, South America, Middle East and Australia and is expected to last for four hours.

The earth will be plunged into total darkness for one hour and 43 minutes, during the Total Eclipse, where the earth’s shadow will completely cover the moon.

The Partial eclipse will extend for 3 hours and 54 minutes and the moon will be partly covered. This will be the second central lunar eclipse after one that occurred in 15th June 2011.

Nairobi residents will experience the eclipse for 6 hours and 14 minutes. It will start on the 27th of July at the time being 20:14 to 28th of July at 02:28.

A lunar eclipse is safe to look at with the naked eye as it is just like watching the Moon, at night.

A solar eclipse, on the other hand, is dangerous and can damage your eyesight as it involves looking at the Sun.

On 15th June 2011, a part of the Moon’s shadow fell near the South Pole making partial coverage of the Sun visible in parts of southern Australia.

Lunar eclipses take place on a full Moon night when the Sun, Earth, and Moon are aligned in a straight line.  The eclipse is visible to anyone on the night-side of the Earth at the time of the eclipse.

Lunar eclipses are scheduled to happen in January 2084, May 2087, September 2090, 2094 and in April 2099, it is quite unlikely any of us alive today will be alive then so take as many photos of the rare spectacle.