Super Blood Moon to dazzle the sky on May 26
(Sourced from PTI)
A rare Super Blood Moon will be seen in the eastern sky on the evening of May 26, just after a total lunar eclipse. The total lunar eclipse will be visible mostly from Eastern Asia, the Pacific Ocean, most parts of North and South America, and Australia. A partial eclipse of the moon will start at around 3:15 pm and end at 6:22 pm.
"On the night of May 26, the sun, earth, and moon alignment will be such that from earth it will be viewed as a full moon and also eclipsed for some time," renowned astrophysicist Debiprasad Duari said on Wednesday. "Moon on its journey around the earth will be passing through earth's shadow for a few moments and will be totally eclipsed," he said.
For most of India, the moon will be below the eastern horizon during the total eclipse and so people of the country cannot observe a blood moon. But in some parts, mostly from eastern India, people will see only the very last part of a partial lunar eclipse, which is also very close to the eastern horizon when the moon is just rising.
"On that evening, the moonrise in Kolkata will be at 6:15 pm and the interested people will possibly get a few minutes glimpse of the partial eclipse which will end at around 6:22 pm," he said. In Delhi, Mumbai, and Chennai, the eclipse will not be seen as during the eclipse phase, the moon will be below the horizon at these places.
"Most of the country will have to be satisfied with a penumbral eclipse, which is not very much discernible with the naked eye when the moon passes through a slightly shadowed region of the Earth and is not very spectacular," Duari said.
Explaining the reason behind calling it a blood moon, Duari said, "As the totally eclipsed moon takes a dark blackish-red color (it) is called a blood moon." "This happens because of the comparatively less deviation of the red part of the moonlight through the earth's atmosphere and falling on the moon's surface," he said.
The next total lunar eclipse will occur on May 16, 2022, but, it will not be visible from the Indian subcontinent. But on November 8, 2022, a lunar eclipse will be seen from India.
