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Tag: Lunar Eclipse

  • Nigeria to witness rare blood Moon as lunar eclipse looms

    Nigeria to witness rare blood Moon as lunar eclipse looms

     Nigeria and many other African countries will on Sunday, September 7, witness a rare lunar eclipse beginning around 8:00 PM West Africa Time.

    TheNewsGuru.com(TNG)  reports that scientists disclosed that the event, will give the Moon a reddish glow known as a “blood moon.” and it will last for about 83 minutes.

    According to reports,  people across Nigeria will be able to watch the spectacle, though some western parts of the continent may miss the early stages since the Moon will rise during totality.

    Countries expected to witness the lunar eclipse include Ghana, Cameroon, Gabon, Equatorial Guinea, Benin, Togo, Niger, Chad, and São Tomé and Príncipe.

    In Nigeria, areas with less light pollution, such as Yobe and Borno, are likely to provide clearer views of the sky.

    A lunar eclipse occurs when the Sun, Earth, and Moon align in a straight line, causing Earth’s shadow to cover the lunar surface.

    Unlike solar eclipses, lunar eclipses do not pose any danger to the eyes and can be viewed safely without protective glasses.

    NASA has confirmed that the total eclipse will also be visible in parts of Europe, Asia, and Australia. The red appearance of the Moon during the eclipse is caused by sunlight bending through Earth’s atmosphere, a natural process that also affects the Moon’s temperature.

  • Nigeria to experience total lunar eclipse on Monday – NASRDA

    The National Space Research and Development Agency (NASRDA) on Friday said Nigeria will join other countries of the world to experience total lunar eclipse on Monday.

    The information was contained in a statement issued to NAN by Dr Felix Alle, the Head, Media and Public Communications of the agency in Abuja.

    According to Alle, lunar eclipse is one in which the moon appears darkened as it passes into the earth’s shadow.

    He stated that “lunar eclipse occurs only when the sun, earth and moon are exactly aligned with the earth between the two.

    “There will be a lunar eclipse over Nigeria on Monday, Jan. 21, 2019.

    “The eclipse, expected to be total, will begin in the evening of Sunday and end on Monday.

    “The eclipse will start across Nigeria in the early hours of Monday at approximately 3.36 a.m. to reach its maximum at 6.12 a.m. and end at about 6.51 a.m.

    “The total duration of the occurrence over Nigeria will be three hours and 15 minutes.”

    The media head said that the lunar eclipse would by 4.33 a.m. become partial eclipse, where the moon would start getting red.

    He added that “at exactly 5.41 a.m., a maximum eclipse of the moon which may be visible to human sight will be witnessed, while the moon eclipse is expected to end at 6.43 a.m.”

    The communications officer stated that the eclipse was expected to take place across North, South America, Western Europe, North and West Africa and Asia.

    He said that the year’s total lunar eclipse would be the last eclipse to be experienced until 2021.

  • Prepare for longest total lunar eclipse on Friday, Scientist tells Nigerians

    Nigeria will on Friday night experience a spectacular total lunar eclipse, which will last for one hour, Prof. Augustine Ubachukwu, has said.

    Ubachukwu, the leader of Astronomy and Astrophysics Research Group of the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, disclosed this on Thursday in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria in Abuja.

    “Nigeria is set to experience a very spectacular total lunar eclipse on Friday, July 27, weather permitting.

    “It will be visible from 9:30.p.m. and last till 11: 220 p.m.

    “This total lunar eclipse will be primarily visible from the world’s Eastern Hemisphere, which are Europe, Africa, Asia, Australia and New Zealand.

    “Part of South America will be able to watch the final stages of the eclipse just after sunset on July 27.

    “New Zealand will catch the beginning stages of the eclipse before sunrise on July 28.

    “It will be the century’s longest total lunar eclipse with a whopping one hour and 43 minutes in totality.

    “It starts with a partial eclipse at 7:24 p.m. The total eclipse begins at 8.30 p.m. and ends at 10.13 p.m. The peak of the eclipse will occur at 9.22 p.m. The partial eclipse ends at 11.19 p.m.,’’ he said.

    Ubachukwu observed that a lunar eclipse could occur only on the night of a full moon.

    The scientist said during a total lunar eclipse, the earth completely blocks direct sunlight from reaching the moon, while the only light reflected from the lunar surface would be refracted by earth’s atmosphere.

    According to him, unlike solar eclipses, lunar eclipses are safe to view without any eye protection or special precautions as they appear dimmer than the full moon.

    The professor, however, said that the next total lunar eclipse that would be visible in Nigeria would occur on Jan. 21, 2019.

    Prof. Rabiu Babatunde, the Director, Centre for Atmospheric Research in Kogi told NAN that people should not be perturbed at the occurrence.

    Babatunde said that the event underscored the fact that planetary objects, including the earth were in a state of defined continuous motion.

    He said that the occurrence necessitated the need for scientists to continue monitoring and exploring the dynamics of the motion and the phenomena associated with them.

    “Keeping tab on the dynamics will enable scientists sensitise the global community of any hazard associated with such occurrences,’’ he said.