Mangalore: Lunar Eclipse – Clouds Dampen Enthusiasm of Sky Gazers

Daijiworld Media Network – Mangalore (SP)

Mangalore, Jun 16: The total lunar eclipse that began at 11.52 pm and ended at 3.33 am on the night of Wednesday June 15 was not properly visible to the stargazers, who were waiting to witness the phenomenon, on account of dark clouds. The eclipse, stated to be the longest and darkest of the century, failed to evoke enough enthusiasm from the general public as it occurred late night.

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While physicists term this eclipse to be the wonder of the universe, as per beliefs embedded in Hinduism, lunar eclipse spells bad luck and multitude of problems for people born on certain sun signs. As such, many people undertook rituals meant to appease the gods concerned, while a number of people visited temples to pray to the deities to provide them protection against adverse influences of the eclipse.

The priests conducted various rituals and offered puja to the presiding deities after the conclusion of the eclipse period.

Lunar Eclipse Around the Nation and World

New Delhi, Jun 16: The white glow of the Moon late on Wednesday night began turning crimson brick during the longest and the darkest lunar eclipse of this century.

The eclipse was visible all over the country, including the national capital.

In this eclipse, the sunlight passing through the Earth's atmosphere gave the lunar surface a deep reddish hue.

According to Nehru Planetarium director N Rathnasree, this was century's longest and darkest total lunar eclipse as the Moon immersed deeply inside the umbral (darker) shadow of the Earth.

Bangalore

Coimbatore


Chennai


Allahabad


 Patna


Taj Mahal, Agra


Nicosia, Cyprus


Brussels

Doha Qatar (Pic by Alexis Castelino)

Sharjah (Pic by Naveen Frank)

The total phase of the eclipse was 100 minutes. The last eclipse to exceed this duration was in July 2000 and the next such eclipse will only take place in 2141.

The penumbral lunar eclipse began at 22:54:34 IST and ended at around 04:30:45 IST, she said.

The total lunar eclipse was scheduled from 00:52:30 IST to 02:32:42 IST. The partial eclipse began at 23:52:56 IST and ended at 03:32:15 IST.

As the earth came in between the sun and the moon, its shadow first began sweeping across the moon blocking out much of its bright light. The face of the moon turned red as the shadow descended gently.

A lunar eclipse occurs when the Earth in course of its orbit around the Sun, comes between the Moon and Sun in such a way that Moon is hidden in the shadow cast by Earth.

This can occur only when the Sun, Earth, and Moon are aligned in a straight line, C B Devgun from Science Popularisation Association of Communicators and Educators (SPACE) said.