This is a phenomenon that only happens twice a year on average.
In the night from Sunday to Monday, the moon will redden.
It won't be the effect of your smoldering gaze, but because of the perfect alignment between the Sun, the Earth and the Moon.
The phenomenon is infrequent, because this alignment must also occur when the Moon is in its full phase.
The star slips into the shadow of the Earth, which then shields the sun's rays, and gradually loses its white glow.
But it does not go out for all that: the Earth continues to send light from the Sun back to the Moon, via rays which take on a red tint through a process of "refraction of the atmosphere", explains Florent Deleflie, of the Paris-PSL Observatory.
"During an eclipse, only the Earth can illuminate the Moon via this re-emission of red rays", continues the astronomer.
Set the alarm clock at 5:29
Only a part of Earthlings will be able to attend this celestial spectacle and good news, we are part of it.
"Observation from the West Indies or Guyana will be ideal, because the Moon will be very high in the sky", according to the Observatory.
The eclipse will also be visible in full in South America, Central America and over an eastern part of North America.
In mainland France, the eclipse will be total at the end of the night between 5:29 a.m. and 6:54 a.m., with a maximum at 6:11 a.m.: the lunar disc will then be completely red.
Note that the Moon will set during this phase of totality, at the same time as the Sun will rise.
It will therefore be all the easier to observe the phenomenon if you are in the west of France, where the Sun rises later than in the east.
The Moon will be very low in the sky and to take full advantage of the eclipse, you will have to choose a place where the horizon is “clear to the west”, advises Florent Deleflie.
“Spectacular photos” at the key
"It's very intriguing to see a bright, white Moon take on a red, extinguished hue over the minutes," he adds.
Visible with binoculars as with the naked eye, the phenomenon can give “spectacular photos” if the weather conditions are good.
The eclipse will last about five hours, and its totality phase – when the star is completely in the Earth's shadow – a little over an hour.
The next total lunar eclipse is scheduled for November 2022, in the middle of the Pacific.
In mainland France, the last dates back to January 2019 and the next will not take place until 2029.
Lunar eclipses have shown that the Earth was round "from antiquity", underlines the astronomer.
“On the surface of the lunar disc, the boundary between the shadow and the part illuminated by the Sun is slightly curved: this is the projection of the roundness of the Earth”.
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