HYDERABAD : There will be a Lunar Eclipse on April 4 which will be visible from all over India, weather conditions permitting.
“A lunar eclipse occurs when Earth comes between the Sun and the Moon and thus casts a shadow on the Moon. It is total if the Earth completely blocks the Moon as will happen on April 4,” according to Birla Science Centre Director B G Sidharth here today.
“The first contact with the umbra, or the beginning of the eclipse will begin at 1547 hrs. The full lunar eclipse will begin at about 1730 hrs. The total eclipse begin to end at 1732 hrs.
“All this drama, however, will not be visible from Hyderabad because the Moon would not have yet risen. The Moon rises in the east at 1832 hrs, just as the Sun sets in the West. When it will rise, it will be seen as a partially eclipsed Moon. The partial phase will continue till 1915 hrs, when the eclipse would have ended,” he said.
“In fact, the Moon will not be completely blocked out during the eclipse, but rather it will appear wherever visible with a brownish reddish glow. This is the so called blood moon. This is because sunlight manages to reach the Moon after bending through the earth’s atmosphere,” Dr sidharth said. “There are many superstitions about eclipses but none of them have any scientific base,” he added.
(AGENCIES)