If you are anything like me at a bar, then one of your top karaoke choices will always be Bonnie Tyler’s Total Eclipse Of The Heart! If that is the case, then you might be interested to learn that at the end of the month the longest eclipse of this century is set to happen! Here is everything that you need to know about the momentous astronomical occasion.
• This is the first central eclipse since June 15, 2011.
• The eclipse on the 27th of July is set to last for about four hours from start to finish, much longer than any we have witnessed before.
• According to NASA there will not be another eclipse of this length or longer until 2123.
• The total eclipse of the sun is going to be visible across wide swaths of the world, so you will get a great view in many places, except unfortunately in the United States, but if you are in the US, you enjoyed one in January when many of the rest of us didn’t.
• The total eclipse, meaning when the earth’s shadow completely covers the view of the sun, is going to last approximately one hour and forty-three minutes.
• If your telescope is powerful enough, you will also be able to see stunning views of Mars and the Milky Way during this four hour plus period. If you want to find your bearings, these things will be to the left side of the moon!
• This eclipse will also create a blood moon. This occurs because when the sun, earth and moon are in a line, the reddish-orange shadow of our planet casts onto the surface of the moon.
We spend so much time with our heads looking down at things like tablets and smartphones, take this opportunity at the end of the month to experience one of the great natural events that will happen in one hundred years!