About the Moon , Reds and El Clasico

Salam , Hello and Greetings to all.

Last night was a memorable night for me. I was looking forward for it since last few days. It was a night fill with excitement from dusk till dawn.  It started off with the lunar eclipse which is the second one in 2011 ( I missed the June 15^th ). I had to rush home before 7 pm to witness it from the beginning. As my preparation for the lunar eclipse, I browse through the internet to get some information about it. Here is some information that I would like to share with.

A lunar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes behind the Earth so that the Earth blocks the Sun's rays from striking the Moon. This can occur only when the Sun, Earth, and Moon are aligned exactly, or very closely so, with the Earth in the middle. Hence, a lunar eclipse can only occur the night of a full moon. The type and length of an eclipse depend upon the Moon's location relative to its orbital nodes. 

Unlike a solar eclipse, which can only be viewed from a certain relatively small area of the world, a lunar eclipse may be viewed from anywhere on the night side of the Earth. A lunar eclipse lasts for a few hours, whereas a total solar eclipse lasts for only a few minutes at any given place, due to the smaller size of the moon's shadow.

The shadow of the Earth can be divided into two distinctive parts: the umbrapenumbra. Within the umbra, there is no direct solar radiation. However, as a result of the Sun’s large angular size, solar illumination is only partially blocked in the outer portion of the Earth’s shadow, which is given the name penumbra. and

The full moon passed right through the Earth’s dark umbra shadow last night to showcase a total eclipse of the moon for 51 minutes. Before and after totality, the moon was partially eclipsed for about one hour and 20 minutes, so the whole lunar eclipse from start to finish is about three and one-half hours.

In Malaysia we saw the entire lunar eclipse at these following times:

Partial eclipse begins: 7:46 pm
Total eclipse begins: 9:06 pm
Greatest eclipse: 9:32 pm
Total eclipse ends: 9:57 pm
Partial eclipse ends: 11:18 pm

The Moon does not completely disappear as it passes through the umbra because of the refraction of sunlight by the Earth’s atmosphere into the shadow cone; if the Earth had no atmosphere, the Moon would be completely dark during an eclipse. When it was at total eclipse, the moon appeared to be in coppery-red. The red coloring arises because sunlight reaching the Moon must pass through a long and dense layer of the Earth’s atmosphere, where it is scattered. Shorter wavelengths are more likely to be scattered by the air molecules and the small particles, and so by the time the light has passed through the atmosphere, the longer wavelengths dominate. This resulting light we perceive as red.

I took some pictures during the eclipse using my Canon EOS 600D. I am not a professional photographer and I have never taken any pictures of the moon before this. Some of the pictures that I took are at the bottom of this post. By the end of it, my whole family enjoyed witnessing the eclipse.

Did I mention red somewhere just now? The next excitement of the night is watching the live telecast of BPL game between Liverpool and QPR. The game started at 11 pm and coincidentally almost the same time after the eclipse. Liverpool went into the game not on a high note after losing at Craven Cottage last week.  3 key midfield players Gerrard , Lucas and Spearing were not available and also the Reds are win less in Anfield in the last 4 games. They also are win less against the newly promoted side so far. So the Reds have to win in order to be in contention with the other top 6 teams.

As usual, the Reds dominated the entire game with more than 60% possession and have more than 20 shots on goal. Suarez was excellent, Maxi and Kuyt worked hard while Adams and Henderson controlled in the middle. It was stalemate at the half. Liverpool took the lead early in second half through Suarez header from Adams pin point cross. Liverpool piled on the pressure but Rangers defense and particularly the keeper Cerny kept the score line. In the end the game ended with the Reds wining 1-0. With Newcastle losing, Liverpool remained at 6^th place in the standing. The game plus post game show ended around 1.30 am and I went to bed but I set my alarm at 5 am. I had to wake up to watch the much anticipated game, the El Clasico.  

 

El Clásico (English: The Classic, Catalan: El Clàssic), also known as El derbi Español, is the name given in football to a match between Real Madrid and Barcelona. It is contested twice a year in the Spanish La Liga competition, and more often if the clubs meet in other competitions. Other than the UEFA Champions League Final, it is the most followed club football match in the world, watched by hundreds of millions of people.

 

The rivalry comes about as Madrid and Barcelona are the two largest cities in Spain, and the two clubs are two of the richest, most successful and influential football clubs in the world. FC Barcelona has 77 official trophies and Real Madrid 74. Together with Athletic Bilbao, these are the only three clubs in La Liga to have never lost top-flight status. They are sometimes identified with opposing political positions, with Real Madrid viewed as representing Spanish nationalism, and Barcelona viewed as representing Catalan nationalism. The Rivalry is argued by many to be the biggest in world football.

This is the seventh El Clasico in 2011 and this time the game was played in Santiago Bernabéu, and as expected it was filled with excitement. Real took the lead just 22 seconds in to the game through Benzema then Barca leveled the score through Sanchez on the half hour mark. Two more goals from Barca in the second half secured 3-1 win. The victory sends Barcelona level on points with Jose Mourinho's men and to the top of the Liga table due to their superior head-to-head record against Madrid, who have a game in hand.

 As I mentioned earlier, all these three events started from dusk and ended at dawn. I supposed these are worthy for me to write. Hope you enjoyed sharing my view.

That’s all for now…..thank you for spending your time reading

Have a pleasant day.