Lunar eclipse and safety precautions on observing the lunar eclipse

The lunar eclipse occurs when the Sun, the Earth and the moon are nearly in one straight line with the Earth in the middle hiding the sunlight from the moon, The lunar eclipse occurs in the middle of the lunar month (the moon phase is a full moon) at a rate of two lunar eclipses per year.

The lunar eclipse can be easily seen from the surface of the Earth, As it lasts for an hour or two hours, in which the surface of the moon gets colored red and then returns to its original natural color. When the Earth passes in front of the Sun it forms two types of shadow which are:

1. The cone shadow (the umbra).

2. The semi-shadow (the penumbra).

   The types of lunar eclipse  

There are three types of lunar eclipse which are the total lunar eclipse, the partial lunar eclipse, and the semi-shaded (Penumbra) lunar eclipse.

The Total lunar eclipse occurs when the Sun, the Earth and the moon all lie in a straight line with the Earth in the middle. and it occurs when the whole moon enters the shadow area  (umbra) of the Earth, the moon appears with red colour.

In a total lunar eclipse, although the sunlight is blocked from reaching the moon, there are some rays (the red rays) are not absorbed by the Earth’s atmosphere these red rays are refracted (by the Earth’s atmosphere) reaching the moon to appear with red color.

The partial lunar eclipse which is a type of lunar eclipses that occurs when a part of the moon enters the umbra region of the Earth, In the partial lunar eclipse, We can see a part of the moon enters the umbra region.

The semi-shaded (Penumbra) lunar eclipse which occurs when the moon enters the semi-shaded area only (the penumbra) of the Earth in which the moonlight turns to be faint without being darkened.

There is no annular lunar eclipse because the Earth has a great size relative to that of the moon. So, it always blocks all the sunlight when it comes between the sun and the moon.

The lunar eclipse started with the semi-shaded lunar eclipse (in the penumbra region) then changed into the partial lunar eclipse (a part of the moon enters the umbra region) then changed into the total lunar eclipse (the whole moon enters the umbra region) then it changed into the partial lunar eclipse again and finally it changed to the semi-shaded lunar eclipse.

You can watch the Lunar eclipses, They are completely safe to watch, You do not need any kind of protective filters. It isn’t even necessary to use a telescope.

It does not require the precautions, the warnings, and the special devices to observe it because it does not cause any harm to the eye.

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