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lunar eclipse

Twitter filled with disappointed memes after clouds block the longest lunar eclipse in 580 years

Twitter filled with disappointed memes after clouds block the longest lunar eclipse in 580 years

On Friday, countries with clear skies would have reaped the rewards of the longest lunar eclipse since the 15th century.

The eclipse kickstarted in the US around 01:02 ET, with the moon looking obscured at 02:18 ET. For the uninitiated, a lunar eclipse is when the moon moves into the earth’s shadow and blocks the sun’s light. 

NASA explained: “During a lunar eclipse, the moon turns red because the only sunlight reaching the moon passes through earth’s atmosphere. The more dust or clouds in earth’s atmosphere during the eclipse, the redder the moon will appear.”

While the unique experience was visible across the US, only a lucky few from the UK would have caught a small glimpse as it happened around moonset.

Some lucky stargazers were gifted with the full lunar eclipse experience and turned to Twitter to showcase their spectacular photos of the 97 per cent eclipsed moon.

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Others, however, were faced with a sky full of clouds – and disappointment.

“So I got up early to look at the Lunar eclipse, looked outside and clouds… back in bed #LunarEclipse”, one said.

If you happened to miss Friday’s lunar eclipse, don’t fret just yet. This might have been the long partial eclipse in a millennium, but NASA expects a longer total lunar eclipse on November 8, 2022.

“It’s actually the longest partial lunar eclipse in a millennium, clocking in at 3 hours, 28 minutes and 23 seconds,” they said.

“There hasn’t been a longer partial lunar eclipse since February 18, 1440 (3 hours, 28 minutes, 46 seconds) and it will remain the longest partial lunar eclipse for 648 years until February 8, 2669 (3 hours, 30 minutes, and 2 seconds).”

Talk about Instagram VS reality.

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