When Prof. Dan Shechtman receives the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in Stockholm, an interesting phenomenon will occur outside: the moon will shine at the peak of the eclipse, and thus the residents of Europe, Africa and the Middle East will also be able to partially enjoy one of the long lunar eclipses
On this coming Saturday, around the same time Prof. Dan Shechtman will receive the Nobel Prize in Chemistry, a natural phenomenon will occur that is not rare, a lunar eclipse, but viewers in Europe, Israel and Africa will have the opportunity to see the moon shine when it is eclipsed.
Prof. Yoav Yair from the Department of Natural Sciences and Exact Sciences at the Open University explains: "The second full lunar eclipse of the current year will occur on Saturday evening, December 10.12.11, 16, and will culminate at 31:063 p.m. In an unusual and quite special way, the moon shines above the northeastern horizon (azimuth 16) when it is already entirely within the shadow of the earth, meaning that it will appear very low and close to the horizon line when it is already "poor". The peak of the eclipse is at 31:49:397,334, and the moon will appear and "rise" (or "rise") slowly above the horizon line in all its glory, with orange-red colors. The color is caused by the passage of the sun's rays - which sets at exactly the same time in the west - through the Earth's atmosphere. If the eastern horizon contains large amounts of dust, the colors are expected to be orange-dark, and the moon will look like a ripe orange. The distance of the moon from the earth at the peak of the eclipse is XNUMX km.
The end of the total eclipse phase is at 16:57:24, when the moon will emerge from the shadow and gradually brighten. This is the partial eclipse phase that will last until 18:17:38. The end of the eclipse, when the moon will shine in all its bright glory, is at 19:30.
The optimal observation will be in a place where there is a clear and undisturbed line of sight to the east-northeast. You don't need binoculars or anything special, just a clear sky! (Let's hope it will be a bright evening)."
The Earth always casts a shadow into space and often the Moon passes through this shadow and a white eclipse occurs. Usually a white eclipse occurs next to a solar eclipse two weeks before or after it (and sometimes there is a sequence of two solar eclipses and a white eclipse in between).
If the moon passes through the edge of the shadow, a partial eclipse occurs, this is what the residents of the western US will see as the moon will set for them before it is affected, and so will the residents of Asia who will see the end of the eclipse, when the moon will rise after the peak of the eclipse, partially covered. For viewers in Europe , Africa and the Middle East this coming Saturday night, the moon will rise when it is at the peak of the eclipse.
The reason the moon appears red during the eclipse is the same reason the sunrise and sunset appear red. While the white light that reaches the Earth's atmosphere contains all the colors from red to blue, the molecules in the Earth's atmosphere do not scatter most of the red light, but they do scatter a significant amount of dark colors when the sun or moon is high in the sky. This effect causes the blue sky during the day or the white moon at night.
When the sun or the moon are low in the sky, most of the blue light coming from these bodies is scattered from the straight path towards our eyes, so they will appear red to our eyes.
4 תגובות
to Ronnie,
The white blessing is indeed said once a month, when "the white is full" -> that is, when it is getting fuller. Therefore, the last date on which the blessing of the white can be said is the XNUMXth of the month. A lunar eclipse will always happen as a full moon - XNUMX in a month, so there can be no conflict between the blessing of the white and a lunar eclipse.
(And see a rabbinical reference to the subject: http://www.yeshiva.org.il/ask/?id=9036)
to Aria,
For eclipses of lights (and other interesting natural phenomena) bless the blessing "doing an act of creation". The Gemara did address the issue, and saw the eclipse as a "bad sign", the question being for whom - Israel or the rest of the world. In light of the juxtaposition between the lunar eclipse and the Nobel Prize, perhaps the question has been decided? 🙂
Regarding the blessing of the sun - it is already known and agreed that the date of this blessing does not fit the astronomical calculations - neither the ancient ones from the Gemara period, nor the modern ones. I don't want to go into too much detail and/or sermonizing, but the blessing is on the very cycle and routine. It is impossible to operate in a world where everything is unpredictable and based on surprises and miracles, therefore - once in a cycle of 28 years we are thankful for that.
By the way, even though the blessing of the sun has been given its own special name - it is the same blessing "doing a Genesis" that blesses all natural phenomena (and as I explained - the "phenomenon" here is the cycle). What is special is the atmosphere - a gathering and some psalms being said.
Roni 28 - The Havlana blessing is said on the first Shabbat evening after the Nativity of Havlana. Starting from the middle of the Hebrew month, the full moon fills up until it becomes a thin sickle and on Rosh Chodesh it is not illuminated at all, then a thin sickle appears which is the birth of whiteness, after which the sickle grows wider. For some reason, there is no reference in Judaism to a solar or white eclipse, and they did not institute a blessing that should be blessed by those who see the eclipse - like they bless, for example, lightning and thunder; And what's even more bizarre - there is the blessing of the sun once every XNUMX years, when it is claimed, the sun returns to the place it was when it was created...
Knowing on Ynet, they managed to get it wrong three(!) times.
The news itself, written by Yigal Fat-El, was to the point and accurate,
But three pictures were attached: of a halo around the moon, of just a sunrise of the moon, and of a solar eclipse.
Below them all appears the inscription "Moon Eclipse".
And it is supposed to be the leading news site in Israel...
http://www.ynet.co.il/articles/0,7340,L-4159067,00.html
In Judaism, on Shabbat night once a month, there is a "white blessing". I think it was last week. One of the conditions is that the whiteness will be seen without clouds and shadows. Here we are dealing with an astronomical and non-terrestrial occultation. It is interesting if there is a reference to this among the religious.