Namibia's night sky in September: Total lunar eclipse

A spectacular show in Namibia's evening sky in September. Title: Total lunar eclipse. The actors: Moon and Earth. The sun provides the lighting.

The natural spectacle of a lunar eclipse can only occur during a full moon (see also article on Wikipedia). This is because, as seen from Earth, the moon must be opposite the sun.

There is a full moon once, sometimes even twice a month. Total lunar eclipses often occur twice a year, but in some years (2030, 2031) there are none.

The reason: when viewed from the moon, the Earth does not appear much larger than the sun. Its shadow is relatively small on the moon due to the distance. So, in addition to total eclipses, there are also penumbral and partial lunar eclipses.

And, of course, you can only observe them when the moon is above the horizon. In Namibia, this will be the case on 7 September, at least for four and a half hours during the five-and-a-half-hour natural spectacle. Namibians will have to wait until 31 December 2028 for their next total lunar eclipse.

Total lunar eclipse over Namibia

Namibia will miss the beginning of the lunar eclipse because the moon does not rise until 6:36 p.m. The first phase begins at 5:28 p.m. (all times are for Windhoek; see Timeanddate.com) with the moon being darkened by the Earth's penumbra.

Namibia is also a little too late for the start of phase II. From 6:27 p.m., the Earth's umbra begins to darken the moon. From 6:36 p.m., the Earth finally rotates far enough for Namibia to see the moon. Namibians and visitors to Namibia can now watch as the Earth's umbra increasingly obscures the moon.

At around 7.30 p.m., the moon will be completely covered, meaning that the lunar eclipse will be total. At 8.11 p.m., the spectacle will reach its climax: the moon will have moved as close as possible to the centre of the Earth's shadow.

The total eclipse ends at 8:52 p.m., the partial eclipse at 9:56 p.m. and the penumbral eclipse at 10:55 p.m.

If you want to get in the mood for the lunar eclipse, check out the online portal Timeanddate.com. A very vivid animation shows all phases of the darkening caused by the Earth's penumbra and umbra as it progresses.

Planets spread across the evening and morning sky

Two of the five planets visible to the naked eye will be watching the lunar spectacle in the evening. Saturn will rise in the east shortly after 7 p.m. (all times refer to 15 September; see TimeAndDate.com; location: Windhoek). Mars is already low in the west and sets around 9 p.m.

Jupiter and Venus, on the other hand, slip away into the morning sky. Jupiter appears on the eastern horizon around 3:15 a.m. Venus follows around 5:30 a.m. Mercury is close to the Sun and therefore cannot be seen at all.

Sun and Moon

Sunrise on 1 September is around 7.01 am, sunset around 6.41 pm. On 30 September, the sun rises at around 6.33 am and sets at around 6.50 pm. The length of the day (time with sunlight) will therefore increase by 37 minutes over the course of the month – from 11 hours and 40 minutes to 12 hours and 17 minutes (see Timeanddate.com).

On 22 September, everyone on Earth experiences a day where there are almost exactly twelve hours between sunrise and sunset. In other words, the day lasts almost exactly as long as the night. This is called the equinox (Latin for 'equal night').

At the same time, 22 September is the first day of spring in the southern hemisphere. In the northern hemisphere, on the other hand, autumn begins.

The phases of the moon in September: full moon 7 September, last quarter 14 September, new moon 21 September, first quarter 30 September. The moonlight is therefore the least disturbing when observing the stars and planets at the middle to end of September.

You can also find out more about the Namibian starry sky in July in the Astro News by Lutz von Dewitzin the news section on the website of the Namibia Scientific Society.

Sven-Eric Stender