Pinoys watch 'red moon;' another eclipse due December

Many Filipinos stayed up for several hours from Wednesday night until dawn Thursday to watch the moon turn red during a total lunar eclipse. In Manila and Quezon City, many Filipinos spent time outside waiting until the earth's shadow veiled the moon, radio dzBB reported. "Kaya ako nagtiyaga, kasi matagal ang interval bago mangyari ang total eclipse... sentrong sentro siya," Maximo Sacro Jr., the first curator of the Philippine planetarium who stayed up to watch the event, said in an interview on dzBB.

Also, he said "Meron uli tayo sa Disyembre [pero] medyo hindi na gitna. Tatagal din iyon ng ilang oras (We can expect another lunar eclipse in December but the shadow may not hit the center of the moon. Still, the eclipse will take some hours)." A report by dzBB's Manny Vargas quoted the Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) as saying the eclipse started 1:23 a.m. Manila time, and was to end about 7 a.m. Earlier, PAGASA said the entire event could be seen from the eastern half of Africa, the Middle East, central Asia and western Australia. But observers throughout Europe will miss the early stages of the eclipse because they occur before moonrise. On the other hand, Eastern Asia, eastern Australia, and New Zealand would miss the last stages of eclipse because they occur after moonset. "However, none of the eclipse will be visible from North America. At mid-eclipse, the Moon is near the zenith for observers from Reunion and Mauritius," PAGASA said. Red hue On the other hand, Sacro said the red hue of the moon during the eclipse should be a reminder of the pollution especially in urban areas. He said the red hue may be partially due to light scattering and also to the dust in the atmosphere. "Sa urban centers... marami ang light pollution kaya mas maganda ang observation ng eclipse sa probinsya (In urban areas, the moon is red due to light pollution. But those in the provinces will get a better view)," he said. Moon enthusiast website Moon Daily gave a similar explanation for the red hue – due to dust in the upper atmosphere. "As the eclipse progresses, the Moon's disc will take on an eerie coppery red glow. This is because sunlight falling on the Moon has been filtered through the earth's atmosphere. The exact appearance depends on how much dust and clouds are present in the upper atmosphere at the time," Moon Daily said in an earlier article.