[ti:Near Total Lunar Eclipse to Happen on Friday] [by:www.51voa.com] [00:00.00]更多听力请访问51VOA.COM [00:00.04]A nearly total lunar eclipse is set to happen on Friday [00:06.12]and people in many parts of the world will be able to see it. [00:11.68]It will be the longest partial lunar eclipse to happen this century, [00:19.64]records from the American space agency NASA show. [00:25.28]NASA says the main part of the eclipse [00:29.24]will last 3 hours, 28 minutes and 23 seconds. [00:35.52]The longest total lunar eclipse to happen this century [00:40.88]was on July 27, 2018. [00:45.60]That one lasted about one hour and 43 minutes. [00:51.92]Friday's lunar eclipse will be visible in all of North America, [00:58.16]as well as large parts of South America, [01:01.80]eastern Australia and northeastern Asia. [01:07.12]It will not be visible to people in the Middle East, [01:11.32]most of Africa, Eastern Europe and central Asia. [01:17.40]Eclipse watchers in North America and the Pacific [01:22.24]will be able to witness the full event in late evening Thursday [01:27.92]or in the early morning hours of Friday. [01:31.96]The partial lunar eclipse can also be seen in South America [01:37.84]and Western Europe early Friday morning. [01:42.00]People in other areas – including New Zealand, Australia, [01:47.88]Japan, China and Southeast Asia – will be able to see [01:53.72]parts of the eclipse beginning in late afternoon [01:57.68]or evening hours on Friday. [02:00.76]A lunar eclipse happens when the sun, Earth and moon [02:06.72]line up in such a way that the moon passes [02:11.00]into the darkness of Earth's shadow. [02:14.48]The eclipse will happen over several different stages. [02:20.32]In a total lunar eclipse, the whole moon [02:24.68]falls within the darkest part of Earth's shadow. [02:28.84]In Friday's partial lunar eclipse, [02:32.72]more than 97 percent of the moon will fall within this shadow. [02:39.56]NASA says the eclipse is expected to reach its peak at 9:03 UTC time. [02:49.36]The moon will look darker and appear to turn a reddish-brown color. [02:55.52]This happens because the only sunlight reaching the moon [03:00.32]passes through Earth's atmosphere. [03:03.84]After the peak, the full shadow of Earth [03:07.92]will begin to slowly move off the moon to the lower right, [03:12.40]before completely leaving the full shadow by 10:47 UTC. [03:20.08]"The more dust or clouds in Earth's atmosphere during the eclipse, [03:25.68]the redder the moon will appear," NASA said in a statement. [03:32.08]"It's as if all the world's sunrises [03:35.72]and sunsets are projected onto the moon." [03:40.16]The upcoming eclipse is happening during a full moon. [03:45.92]Ancient cultures around the world gave names [03:50.68]to the 12 full moons that happen throughout the year. [03:56.04]In North America, traditional names are given to full moons. [04:01.36]NASA says many of these names came from Native Americans. [04:07.56]Some were first published by the Farmers' Almanac, [04:12.64]in the northeastern state of Maine, in the 1930s. [04:17.64]Traditional names for the November full moon include the Beaver Moon, [04:24.20]the Frost or Frosty Moon and the Snow Moon. [04:29.88]Because of the current full moon name, [04:32.68]Friday's event has been widely publicized [04:36.44]as the Beaver Moon partial lunar eclipse. [04:41.20]One interpretation of the Beaver Moon [04:45.24]is that mid-autumn was traditionally the time for hunters [04:50.12]seeking beaver fur to set their traps before waters froze. [04:56.00]NASA notes that another reason for the name [05:00.12]could be linked to how active beavers are [05:04.28]during the autumn as they prepare for winter. [05:08.32]The terms frost, frosty and snow in the other names [05:14.60]describe the frosts and early snowfall [05:18.60]that usually begin at this time of year in many parts of the U.S. [05:25.12]I'm Bryan Lynn. 更多听力请访问51VOA.COM