The date was doubly important, on account of it also being the 50th anniversary of the launch of Apollo 11 on July 16, 1969.

A lunar eclipse occurs when the Sun, Earth and Moon are aligned, and when the Moon finds itself in the Earth’s shadow.

Yesterday’s lunar eclipse was only partial, with “about 60% of the visible surface of the Moon being covered by shadows,” said the Royal Astronomical Society (RAS) of London in a statement.

Lunar eclipses can – unlike solar eclipses – be seen with the naked eye without any danger.

The partial eclipse began at 10:01 pm and hit its peak at 11:30 pm. It ended at 00:59 am.

Here are a few of the shots people managed to capture all over the world:

 

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Looks like that haziness gave a little atmosphere to tonight’s partial lunar eclipse, @willgater was right! We got to about 65% coverage tonight in the UK and a total of 5 hours and 33 minutes. Taken on the #LumixS1 #lunareclipse #lunareclipse2019

A post shared by Huw James 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿🇪🇺 (@huwmjames) on Jul 16, 2019 at 5:04pm PDT

 

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Last night’s partial lunar eclipse 🌚 . #kuunpimennys #lunareclipse #partiallunareclipse #lunareclipse2019 #nightskyphotography #nightsky #visitfinland #visitmikkeli #astrophoto #astrophotography #moonphotos #moonphotography #natgeoyourshot #eclipse #rsa_outdoors #natgeospace #natgeo #instamoon

A post shared by Jenni (@jjemsie) on Jul 17, 2019 at 12:54am PDT

 

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Yesterday, July 16, was the 50th anniversary of the launch of Apollo 11 to land astronauts on the Moon. The full moon, in Sagittarius passed partway through the southern part of the Earth’s shadow resulting in a partial lunar eclipse. #lunareclipse #lunareclipse2019 #eclipse #moon #apollo #lunarphotography #astrophotography #night #cracow

A post shared by Alexander Poplavsky (@poplavsky) on Jul 17, 2019 at 12:47am PDT

 

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This evening we managed to dodge the clouds and see the partial lunar eclipse! I managed to get a couple of shots. This is the first time I’ve gone eclipse chasing around my local area haha, it was good fun! Hope you like them 😄 #lunarphotography #lunarphases #lunareclipse #lunareclipse2019 #astrophotography #astronomy #amateurastronomy #amateurastronomer #space #solarsystem #altairastro #canon200d #birmingham #igersbirmingham #b31voices #solarsystem #moon #moonphotography #moonoftheday #backyardastronomy #birminghamlive #astrobritain

A post shared by Stacey D (@astrostace) on Jul 16, 2019 at 4:34pm PDT

The post Best Pictures: Partial lunar eclipse yesterday on the 50th anniversary of the takeoff of Apollo 11 appeared first on Brussels Express.

The “exoplanet” (so-called because it is a planet which exists outside of our solar system) is known as D49674b, and is located in the Auriga constellation. It was discovered in 2002.

The planet is a gas giant, much like Neptune, Saturn, Venus, and Jupiter. However, it is significantly heavier than any planet in our solar system: its mass is 31,783 times larger than that of the Earth – our heaviest planet, Jupiter, is only 318 times more massive – and it takes a mere 4.9 days to complete an orbit around its star.

Belgium received this gift on the occasion of the IAU’s 100th birthday, a day in which the IAU also granted exoplanets to every country in the world in order to encourage people to think more deeply about human beings’ place in the universe.

The IAU is currently the largest organisation for astronomers in the world, and consists of more than 13,500 professional members.

Each country has right to name its own exoplanet. In the Netherlands, the public is expected to vote on the name of their exoplanet in an online poll later this year; Belgium is expected to follow a similar approach, according to a professor of astronomy at KU Leuven, Leen Decin.

All exoplanets distributed by the IAU are visible with (at most) the aid of a small telescope from the countries to which they have been gifted. “Auriga is a constellation in the shape of a W, and is perfectly visible from Belgium,” Professor Decin told VRT NWS.

All countries have until November to propose a name for their exoplanet. The IAU will then present all of the given names at a special event to be held in December.

The post Belgium now has its own planet and the right to name it too appeared first on Brussels Express.