The night sky during July
The total lunar eclipse of June 15 was one of the longest in recent years. It was also one of the darkest. This may have been partly due to increased aerosol content in the upper atmosphere resulting from the eruption of the Puyehue volcano in...
The total lunar eclipse of June 15 was one of the longest in recent years. It was also one of the darkest. This may have been partly due to increased aerosol content in the upper atmosphere resulting from the eruption of the Puyehue volcano in Chile.
Even during totality, a sombre, red lunar disc could be seen in the starry night sky, reflecting reddened light falling on to its surface. Seen from a lunar perspective, the ruddy illumination is from all the sunsets and sunrises around the edges of a silhouetted Earth.
In this sharp portrait of the eclipsed moon by Leonard Ellul Mercer, the moon appears totally red as it delves deep into the Earth’s shadow.
On some occasions the moon’s edge reflects a bluish tinge as well as it emerges from Earth’s umbral shadow. The bluer light is still filtered through Earth’s atmosphere, but originates in rays of sunlight passing through layers high in the upper stratosphere.
That light is coloured by ozone that absorbs red light and transmits bluer hues.
Astronomical events during July
| Date |
Event |
| Friday 1 | New Moon. Partial solar eclipse visible from the southern hemisphere only (not visible from Malta). |
| Friday 8 | Moon: First Quarter. |
| Sunday 10 | Moon close to Saturn. |
| Friday 15 | Full Moon |
| Saturday 23 | Moon: Last Quarter. |
| Sunday 24 | Moon close to Jupiter. |
| Tuesday 26 | Moon close to M45 (the Pleiades star cluster) and Aldebaran. |
| Thursday 28 | Moon close to Mars. |
| Saturday 30 | New Moon |
Mr Pace is vice-president of the Astronomical Society of Malta.
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