Wherever you live in metropolitan France, the Moon will offer you the gift of a partial eclipse on Wednesday, September 18, 2024. Nothing spectacular in sight, but it will still be worth a look.
On September 18, the Moon will pass into the conecone shadow formed by the Earth when our Sun aligns with our Planet and its only natural satellite. The alignment, this time, will not be perfect. It will only result in a partial eclipse. But it will still be worth looking up to the sky to admire the mysterious bitebite dark which will then appear on the disk of the full Moon.
A partial lunar eclipse to be observed in the sky
The Institute of Celestial Mechanics and Ephemeris Calculation (IMCCE) of the Paris Observatory specifies that the eclipse will be visible in its entirety from metropolitan France, Martinique and Guadeloupe. The islands of Reunion and Mauritius will only see part of it. And the astronomersastronomers warn that only a small part of the Moon will be obscured by the Earth’s shadow during this eclipse of September 18, 2024. All this will take place between 4:13 a.m. – Paris time – and 5:16 a.m. this Wednesday morning. With a partial eclipse that will be at its maximum at 4:44 a.m. The phases during which the Moon will be located in the penumbra of our Earth – from 2:41 a.m. to 6:47 a.m. – will be virtually invisible to the naked eye.
While it is essential to protect your eyes when observing a partial or even total solar eclipse, a lunar eclipse can be admired without any problem.eyeeye naked. The best thing, in this case, is to find a place relatively sheltered from light pollution. You may not fully enjoy the reddish tint that the Moon takes on when it istotal eclipsetotal eclipsebut you can expect a slight bite to appear, at the top right of the Belle.
Because the Earth is round
And if you are lucky enough to be able to observe the phenomenon with binoculars or with a telescopetelescopeso aim particularly at the edge of the shadow zone. There you will discover the roundness of our Earth…
