Lunar Eclipse

The lunar eclipse is an event when half or all of the moon is covered by the shadow of the earth. It happens when the earth is between the sun and the moon in the same straight line, so that the sun's rays can not reach the moon because it is blocked by the earth. With another explanation, the lunar eclipse appears when the moon is in opposition to the sun. The moon takes 29.53 days to move from one point of opposition to another. So it should, if there is a lunar eclipse, will be followed by the sun eclipse because both nodes are located on the line that connects between the Sun and the earth.

Actually, when a lunar eclipse is going on, the moon can still be seen. This is because there is still a sunlight that is deflected into the moon by the earth's atmosphere. And most of these deflected rays have a spectrum of red light. That is why at the time of the lunar eclipse, the moon will look dark, can be red copper, orange, or brown.

The lunar eclipse can be observed with the naked eye and it is not harmful at all.

When the lunar eclipse is in progress, Muslims who see or know the eclipse are recommended to pray (shalat khusuf).

The types of lunar eclipses

Moon Eclipse can be divided into three name:

• Total lunar eclipse is divided into 2:

    - Total negative lunar eclipse: In this eclipse, the moon will be right in the NTT area and the moon color becomes red but uneven.

    - Total positive lunar eclipse: In this eclipse, the moon passes through the center point of the umbra area and the moon's color becomes evenly red.

• Partial lunar eclipse

In this eclipse, the earth is not entirely blocking the moon from the sun. While the other half of the surface of the moon is in the penumbra area. So there is still some sunlight that reaches the surface of the moon.

• Penumbra lunar eclipse

In this eclipse, all parts of the moon are in the penumbra. So the moon can still be seen with a gloomy color.