Millions of star gazers across the world watch total lunar eclipse as Moon passes through Earth’s shadow
Ablood-red moon dazzled star gazers across much of the world on Friday, July 27 when it moved into Earth’s shadow for the longest lunar eclipse of the 21st century. From the Cape of Good Hope to the Middle East, and from the Kremlin to Sydney Harbour, thousands of people turned their eyes to the stars to watch the moon, which turned dark before shining orange, brown and crimson in the shadow.
The total eclipse lasted 1 hour, 42 minutes and 57 seconds, though a partial eclipse preceded and followed, meaning the moon spent a total of nearly 4 hours in the Earth’s shadow. The fullest eclipse was visible from Europe, Russia, Africa, the Middle East, and much of Asia and Australia though clouds blocked out the moon in some places. The eclipse was not visible from North America or most of the Pacific. On the banks of India’s Ganges, temples were closed ahead of the eclipse. Enthusiasts watched through telescopes in Singapore and at the Al Sadeem Observatory near Abu Dhabi. Hundreds of people in Australia watched the eclipse from the Sydney Observatory. When the moon moved into the conical shadow of the earth, it went from being illuminatedby the sun to being dark. Some light, though, still reached it because it was bent by the Earth’s atmosphere. „It’s called a blood moon because the light from the sun goes through the Earth’s atmosphere on its way to the moon, and the Earth’s atmosphere turns it red in the same way that when the sun goes down,“ said Andrew Fabian, professor of astronomy at the University of Cambridge.
At the same time, Mars is traveling closer to Earth than it has done since 2003, so some observers may see what looks like an orange-red star – and is in fact the red planet. „It is a very unusual coincidence to have a total lunar eclipse and Mars at opposition on the same night,“ said Robert Massey, deputy executive director of the Royal Astronomical Society. For thousands of years, man has looked to the heavens for omens of doom, victory and joy. The Bible contains references to the moon turning into blood and some ultra-Orthodox Jews consider lunar eclipses ominous and acause for moral contemplation. According to some Hindu beliefs, celestial bodies such as the sun and moon emit negative energy during an eclipse and so some temples in India were closed to minimize any disturbance.
„There is no reason to believe that blood moons foretell doom,“ said Massey. „This does not herald the apocalypse: seeing a lunar eclipse and Mars in the sky is something people should enjoy rather than worry about.“
The next lunar eclipse of such a length is due in 2123.
REUTERS STAFF
Text pochází z agentury Reuters, zdroj LN
SLOVÍČKA
turn red zčervenat, zrudnout
gaze zírat, hledět
eclipse zatmění
dazzle oslnit, uchvátit
crimson karmínová červeň
precede předcházet
visible viditelný
block out zakrýt
temple chrám
conical kuželovitý stín
illuminate osvítit, osvětlit
bend ohnout
in fact ve skutečnosti
coincidence náhoda
heaven nebe, obloha
omen znamení, předzvěst
doom zkáza, záhuba
consider považovat za
ominous zlověstný, hrozivý
cause důvod, příčina
contemplation rozjímání
celestial body nebeské těleso
emit vyzařovat, vysílat
disturbance rušivý podnět
foretell předpovídat
herald zvěstovat
be due mít přijít, se stát
AUČTE SE GRAMATIKU PODLE TEXTU
Dnes se v textu objevilo slovo though, a t o hned několikrát. Though představuje spojku vyskytující se na začátku věty s významem ačkoliv, i když. Objevila se ve větě „… though a partial eclipse preceded and followed…“ („… ačkoliv částečné zatmění předcházelo i následovalo …“). Podobně lze použít although nebo even though. Výraz though však také může stát samostatně, často na konci věty. Neslouží ke spojení dvou vět a do češtiny jej překládáme slovem ale: „Some light, though, still reached it …“ („Nějaké světlo se k němu ale dostalo …“).
PŘELOŽTE:
I think so, I am not sure though. Though it was a hot day, she was wearing a sweater. I can’t stay long, I’ll have a coffee though.
Řešení: Myslím, že ano, ale nejsem si jistý. Ačkoliv byl horký den, měla na sobě svetr. Nemůžu zůstat dlouho, ale dám si kávu.
