New Delhi, October 8-A total lunar eclipse, the second and last one of the year, will occur on October 8. Star gazers in India can only witness its last stage as the moon will be below the horizon during most of the eclipse.
The eclipse of moon will begin at 1:47 pm IST when it will enter the penumbral shadow of the Earth, and end at 7:02 pm. The totality of the eclipse will begin at 3:57 pm.
The maximum eclipse will be seen at 4:25 pm while the totality will end on 4:52 pm. The end of partial lunar eclipse will take place at 6:02 pm, and the moon will leave the penumbra at 7:02 pm. The Earth will position itself between the sun and the moon, creating a full lunar eclipse with a majestic red hue, something that is referred to as “Blood Moon”.
India is not a suitable location for viewing this eclipse as at most of the places only penumbral lunar eclipse will be visible for a very short duration of time. Moreover, penumbral eclipse is very hard to detect by the naked eye.
The eclipse will be visible in the region covering the Americas, Australasia and parts of Asia.The places from where the beginning of the umbral phase is visible at the time of moonset are some parts of Argentina, Brazil, North Atlantic Ocean and Greenland.
The places from where the ending of umbral phase is visible at the time of moonrise are Indian Ocean, some parts of India, western parts of China, some parts of Kazakhstan and Russia.
At the time of moonrise, the umbral phase (the partial phase of the eclipse) will be visible for a short duration in India, except from the western region of the country.The shadow of earth has two parts, the central dark part is called umbra and the lighter outer part is called penumbra.
A lunar eclipse takes place on the full moon night when sun, earth and the moon come in a straight line. Normally, during the full moon phase that takes place once every month, the moon passes slightly below or above the shadow of earth.
This is because the plane in which the Moon orbits the earth is inclined by about 5 degrees. However, on occasions, when moon passes through the shadow zone of the Earth, lunar eclipse is seen.
The first lunar eclipse of the year occurred on April 15.
-INDIA TODAY
