Bengaluru: From Ladakh to Tamil Nadu, skywatchers turned their gaze in the direction of the moon Sunday night time to witness a uncommon ‘Blood Moon’ or the full lunar eclipse.
The earth’s shadow began masking the lunar disc at 9:57 pm because the moon performed disguise and search within the cloudy skies with monsoon rains lashing components of the nation.
The earth’s shadow will utterly cowl the moon at 11:01 pm, turning it coppery pink, placing up a uncommon show of ‘Blood Moon’.
“The Moon might be totally eclipsed from 11.01 pm to 12.23 am for a length of 82 minutes,” Niruj Mohan Ramanujam, Head of Science, Communication, Public Outreach and Training (SCOPE) Part, Indian Institute of Astrophysics, stated.
The moon seems pink throughout lunar eclipses as a result of the one daylight reaching it’s mirrored and scattered by way of the earth’s ambiance, B S Shylaja, former director at Jawaharlal Nehru Planetarium stated.
The Indian Institute of Astrophysics has turned the telescopes at its campuses in Bengaluru, Ladakh, and Tamil Nadu in the direction of the moon and had been streaming the development of the full lunar eclipse stay on social media platforms.
Cloudy skies performed spoilsport at a number of components of the nation, however the stay streams arrange by astronomy fanatics world over made up for the frustration attributable to overcast skies.
The overall lunar eclipse was seen from throughout Asia and components of Europe, Africa and west Australia.
Sunday’s eclipse was the longest whole lunar eclipse seen from India since 2022 and the primary since July 27, 2018 to be noticed from all components of the nation.
The following whole lunar eclipse might be seen from the nation on December 31, 2028.
Eclipses are uncommon and don’t happen each full or new moon as a result of the moon’s orbit is inclined about 5 levels to the earth’s orbit across the Solar.
A lunar eclipse happens when the earth comes between the solar and the moon, casting its shadow on the lunar floor.
Not like photo voltaic eclipses, observing a complete lunar eclipse doesn’t require particular tools and is secure with the bare eye, binoculars, or a telescope.
In India, lunar eclipses are linked to a number of superstitions, with folks typically avoiding meals, water, and bodily exercise, fearing “poisoning or destructive vitality”. Some even consider eclipses are “dangerous to pregnant ladies and their unborn kids”.
Nonetheless, astronomers say lunar eclipses are merely shadow phenomena, understood lengthy earlier than Aryabhata’s time, and “pose no danger to folks or animals”.
Sadly, sure non-scientific beliefs have led to unlucky incidents throughout previous eclipses, underscoring the necessity for scientific consciousness. It’s completely secure to go exterior and eat whereas having fun with this magnificent celestial spectacle, stated Ramanujam.
