As Earth's constant companion slowly sailed across the skies, crowds gathered around the world to catch a glimpse of the rare phenomenon. Beside Lake Magadi, 100 kilometres (60 miles) southwest of the Kenyan capital Nairobi, young members of the Maasai community watched the eclipse through a high-powered telescope provided by a local couple. "Until today I thought Mars, Jupiter and the other planets were in the imagination of scientists," Purity Sailepo, 16, told AFP. "But now I've seen it I can believe it and I want to be an astronomer to tell other people." Unlike with a solar eclipse, viewers did not need protective eye gear to observe the rare display. For about half the world, the moon was partly or fully in Earth's shadow from 1714 to 2328 GMT -- six hours and 14 minutes in all. The period of complete eclipse -- known as "totality", when the moon appears darkest -- lasted from 1930 to 2113 GMT. At the same time, Mars hovered near the moon in the night sky, easily visible to the … [Read more...] about ‘Blood moon’ dazzles skygazers in century’s longest eclipse
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First space observatory to open in central Vietnam
The observatory, built on a rocky area called Hon Chong in Khanh Hoa's Nha Trang City, some 1,040 km south of capital Hanoi, is in the finishing stage and will be ready for a pilot run by the Lunar New Year holiday in late January, said the VNSC. Its official opening is scheduled in March. The observatory in Nha Trang. VNSC director Pham Anh Tuan said that a space telescope with 0.5-meter diameter will be installed inside a dome with 9-meter diameter. This astronomical telescope has been the biggest and most modern one in Vietnam. The dome can accommodate up to 60 people. This area is like a cinema whose screen is a dome with 9 meters in diameter. It has 6 projectors filming 3D images of the sky and stars. The films are about the solar system, Mercury, Venus, Saturn, etc., astronomical phenomema, space discovery…It can supply visitors with knowledge about astromonhy such explanation for seasons in a year, positions of heavenly bodies in the sky, phenomena like solar … [Read more...] about First space observatory to open in central Vietnam