It will be the first of the year. During the night from Thursday to Friday, a total eclipse of the moon will occur. Thanks to this celestial and infrequent spectacle, the moon will reduce. This phenomenon occurs about twice a year, when the sun, the earth and the moon are perfectly aligned, and the moon is in its full phase.
The star slips into the shadow of the earth, which then screen on solar rays, and gradually loses its white shine. However, it does not go out: the earth continues to return sunlight to the moon, via rays that take a red shade. This copper color is due to sunlight filtered by the earth’s atmosphere, the red component of which is strongly refracted and deflected in the shadow of the earth projected on the moon.
The eclipse will be visible in its entire phase from the American continent, a large part of the Pacific and Atlantic oceans as well as in the far west of Europe and Africa. It will last about six hours and its entire phase – when the star is completely in the shadow of the earth – just over an hour.
Two weeks later, a partial eclipse of the sun
In mainland France, the eclipse will be total between 7:26 a.m. and 8 a.m., with a maximum at 7:58 a.m., according to the Institute of Celestial Mechanics and Calculation of Ephemeris (IMCCE). Only the inhabitants of western Brittany will therefore be able to take advantage of the entire phase at the very end of the night, if the sky is clear. Elsewhere, the moon will already be lying.
A few days later, on March 29, it was a partial eclipse of the sun that will cover part of the terrestrial globe. It will be visible in eastern Canada, Europe, northern Russia and North West Africa.
As in the case of the lunar eclipse, a solar eclipse occurs when the sun, the moon and the earth are perfectly aligned. But this time, it is the moon that is interposed between the sun and the earth and obscures the star, totally or in part. In mainland France, it will start at 9:50 a.m. and end at 1:43 p.m., with a maximum at 11:47 a.m. The sun will be hidden at 31.4 % in Quimper, 23.5 % in Paris but only 9.9 % in Nice, according to the IMCCE.
Be careful, however, because even in the case of a partial eclipse, the sun should not be observed directly with the naked eye, but only using special glasses. Its rays can burn the retina, with irreversible consequences.
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To go further: the phases of the moon and the eclipses in 2025.