By Chantalé Fletcher
TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO experienced one of the longest partial lunar eclipses with the Beaver Full Moon from late Thursday night into Friday morning.
An experience for astronomy lovers to bask in and enjoy the red hues illumination from the Beaver Moon, yet no “Eclipse” party would be held due to the Covid-19 pandemic and its associate health regulations.
According to the Farmer’s Almanac 2021, the Beaver Moon originated from the Algonquin tribe of North America, who had their last beaver traps during November before the water and swamp froze. It was around this time that beavers that the animals completed preparations for winter.
Associated with the Hindu Festival of Kartik Purnima
NASA said, “A Lunar Eclipse occurs when the moon’s light is blocked by the earth. However, in a complete lunar eclipse, the entire moon falls within the darkest part of the umbra, which was known as the earth’s shadow with up to 99.1% of the moon’s disk in earth’s umbra.”
It was also the longest partial lunar eclipse of three hours and 28 minutes in a millennium. Constellation enthusiasts could also look forward to see the Pleiades Star, Hyades cluster and the brightest star, Aldebaran of Taurus during the eclipse.
According to NASA, “The moon will be so close to opposite the Sun on Nov 19 that it will pass through the southern part of the shadow of the Earth for a nearly total lunar eclipse. Followed by the partial shadow of the earth on the upper left part of the moon at 1:02:09 am EST.
“However, slight dimming of the moon will not be noticeable until the full shadow of the earth begins to fall on the upper part of the moon around 2:18:41 am.”
In addition, the arc of the shadow of the round earth will spread across the moon until the peak of the eclipse at 4:02:53 am when over 97% of the Moon will be in full shadow with a small sliver of the left side of the Moon will shine in the partial shadow of the earth.
Due to earth’s atmosphere as the full shadow of the Earth is not black. NASA stated, “If you were on the Moon in this shadow and looking back at the Earth, you would see all of the Earth’s sunrises and sunsets falling on you and the surface around you, giving the Moon a reddish-brown colour.”
Officials stated, “After the peak of the eclipse, the full shadow of the earth will gradually move off the moon to the lower right, completely emerging from the full shadow at 5:47:04 am EST.
“This followed the brightening of the Moon as it moves out of the partial shadow of the earth and the twilight will begin at 5:54 am EST.”
A lengthy process to witness this beauty, but the moon will fully exit the partial shadow of the earth at 7:03:38 am., just before it sets on the west-northwestern horizon at 7:06 am EST.
For additional information, readers can check https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/news/2075/full-moon-guide-november-december-2021/
