Since 2011 our observatory is a member of GLORIA (GLObal Robotic telescopes Intelligent Array for e-Science) project - wide international collaboration of 13 scientific institutions from 8 countries aiming at opening public access to robotic telescopes, as well as propagating astronomy in general. In particular, members of the project regularly organize events dedicated to various interesting astronomical phenomena and events - solar and lunar eclipses, transit of Venus, etc.

    A total lunar eclipse will occur on April 15th, 2014, the first in two and half years. This marks the first of four eclipses occurring about 6 months apart, called an eclipse tetrad. The last tetrad was a decade ago, and the next is not due until 2032. GLORIA will travel to Peru to broadcast the event live.

    What more fascinating place to observe an astronomical event than the land of the Incas? This pre-Columbian civilisation devoted a lot of time to the study of the sky and worshipped the Sun god, Inti. Recording the movements of the Sun and stars was significant to the Incas both for religious reasons and also because these movements were related to seasonal changes that were important for agriculture. The famous Temple of the Sun (Coricancha) in Cusco has forty-one directions marked out. Some of these correspond to astronomical alignments, such as the direction of the rising or setting sun at the June and December solstices.

Lunar eclipse
    Lunar eclipses occur when the Moon passes into the Earth's shadow. This does not happen every month, because the moon's orbit is tilted relative to the Earth's. Unlike solar eclipses, lunar eclipses can be seen from anywhere on the planet once the Moon is above the horizon at the time of the eclipse.

    On April 15th a total eclipse will be visible from the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean. If you live in Europe, depending on your location, you may get to see the Moon start its passage into Earth's shadow (the so-called "penumbral" eclipse phase) at 07:58 CEST on April 15th. However, changes in the Moon's brightness during this phase, lasting about an hour, are minimal and will be tough to spot. When the Moon enters the darkest portion (or "umbra") of Earth's shadow, beginning at 09:06 CEST, the Moon will have already set for most of Europe. A partial eclipse will be visible from the Canary Islands.

The broadcast
    A team of GLORIA astronomers will celebrate this astronomical spectacle with a live broadcast from the ancient Inca site of Saksaywaman, a walled complex on the northern outskirts of the city of Cusco, in Peru. During totality, viewers will see that the Moon does not disappear from view, but turns a reddish colour. The Earth's atmosphere, extending about 80 km beyond the Earth's diameter, acts as a lens, bending the sunlight. It also effectively filters out the blue components of the Sun's light, leaving more red light behind to be reflected from the Moon, giving it the characteristic coppery glow.

    GLORIA will also observe the event from Teide volcano. Located on the Canarian island of Tenerife, its altitude of 3750m offers an intriguing observational prospect. When a total lunar eclipse occurs close to sunrise or sunset at Teide, the shadow of the volcano aligns perfectly with the eclipsed Moon. This unique phenomenon will be observable during the eclipse of April 15th and will be broadcast live.

For more information on the live broadcast timings and other GLORIA activities please go to the project web site.

About GLORIA
    GLORIA is a three-year project financed by the Seventh Framework Program of the European Union (FP7/2007-2012) under agreement number 283783. The project, started in October 2011, involves 13 institutions from 8 countries. Please see gloria-project.eu/about/partners/.
    GLORIA stands for "GLObal Robotic-telescopes Intelligent Array". GLORIA will be the first free and open- access network of robotic telescopes in the world. It will be a Web 2.0 environment where users can do research in astronomy by observing with robotic telescopes, and/or by analysing data that other users have acquired with GLORIA.