Hubble observes total lunar eclipse from Moon's perspective; sees how Ozone reacts to Sun

NASA’s Hubble made its first-ever observation of a total Lunar eclipse and showed what Earth would look like from an alien’s perspective. Hubble Space Telescope was launched into Low Earth Orbit in 1990 and it remains in operation. Scientists have been using Hubble Space Telescope to find life elsewhere in the universe, and recently, it made its first observation of a total lunar eclipse.

Hubble observes 1st total lunar eclipse

Credits: Screengrab HubbleESA Youtube

In January 2019, Earth was between the Sun and the Moon making it perfect for a total Lunar eclipse. Then the Hubble Space Telescope did not just see how the Earth looks during a total lunar eclipse but also observed how chemicals in Earth’s atmosphere react. It was observed by Hubble how the Earth’s atmosphere obstructed certain wavelengths of sunlight from reaching the moon.

This observation was set up to be able to see how the Earth’s chemicals in the atmosphere reacted to certain things. This would further help researchers who plan to probe the atmospheres of planets that could have life or the potential to sustain life in the universe. “We basically pretend we’re alien observers looking at our planet,” says Giada Arney, a planetary scientist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md.

Hubble’s observations were focused on spotting the effects of atmospheric ozone. It is known that ozone is both chemical by-product of oxygen produced in photosynthesis and a shield that protects life from the harmful rays of the sun. Researchers believe that atmospheric ozone could be a key indicator that a planet is habitable.

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What is a lunar eclipse?

A lunar eclipse occurs when the Earth comes between the Sun and the Moon hindering the sun’s light to reflects off the Moon. In the total lunar eclipse, the Earth’s shadow completely covers the moon. Contrary to this, during the solar eclipse, the moon comes between the Earth and the sun. Which enables us to see a ring is formed around the moon.

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How will this data help?

The data that was collected helped the scientists to confirm that chemicals in the Earth’s atmosphere filter light as expected. Since right now, Earth is the only known planet to have life, researchers are trying to observe the Earth and see if there is any planet with similar features and reactions to other factors in the universe. The observations made by Hubble regarding the total lunar eclipse will help astronomers to be able to recognise potentially habitable exoplanets.

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