Day: November 6, 2022

Better catch the moon’s disappearing act Tuesday — there won’t be another like it for three years.

The total lunar eclipse will be visible throughout North America in the predawn hours — the farther west, the better — and across Asia, Australia and the rest of the Pacific after sunset. As an extra treat, Uranus will be visible just a finger’s width above the moon, resembling a bright star.

Totality will last nearly 1 1/2 hours — from 5:16 a.m. to 6:42 a.m. EST — as Earth passes directly between the moon and sun.

Known as a blood moon, it will appear a reddish orange from the light of Earth’s sunsets and sunrises. At the peak of the eclipse, the moon will be 390,653 kilometers away, according to NASA scientists. Binoculars and telescopes will enhance viewing, provided the skies are clear.

South America will get a glimpse of Tuesday’s lunar eclipse, weather permitting. Striking out altogether, Africa, the Middle East and most of Europe will have to wait until 2025.

Among those providing a livestream of Tuesday’s lunar extravaganza: Griffith Observatory in Los Angeles and the Italian-based Virtual Telescope Project.

It’s the second total lunar eclipse this year; the first was in May. The next one won’t be until 2025. Plenty of partial lunar eclipses will be available in the meantime.

 

 

 

Source: Voice of America

PARIS— A far-right MP has been given a 15-day ban from France’s National Assembly for shouting “they should go back to Africa” as a black colleague talked about immigration.

 

Grégoire de Fournas of National Rally (RN) said his remark had not been aimed at Carlos Martens Bilongo but at migrants trying to reach Europe by sea.

 

Bilongo said he had been born in France and the remark was “shameful”.

 

MPs voted on Friday to suspend de Fournas and dock half his allowance, the harshest sanction available to the Assembly.

 

Bilongo had been questioning the government about a request by the SOS Méditerranée non-governmental organisation for help in finding a port for 234 migrants rescued at sea in recent days.

 

The exact meaning of the National Rally MP’s remark is disputed, because theoretically he could have referred to more than one person. The official account of the session recorded his off-microphone remark as Qu’il retourne en Afrique – “he should go back to Africa” – but the plural Qu’ils retournent en Afrique sounds exactly the same.

 

de Fournas was adamant he had been referring to the “boat transporting migrants to Europe”, and RN party leader Marine Le Pen accused her political opponents of fabricating a vulgar outcry.

 

de Fournas later apologised to Bilongo for “the misunderstanding” his comments had caused and if he had been hurt by them.

 

 

Source: Nam news Network