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KOLKATA, June 12, 2011

100-minute-long total lunar eclipse on Wednesday

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Special ArrangementThe eclipse will be best visible, almost near the zenith, from everywhere in India.

Weather permitting, India and certain other parts of the globe will be witnessing the longest total lunar eclipse in more than a decade on the night of June 15. It starts at 12.52 a.m. and will last nearly 100 minutes.

Some scientists are christening it the "Darkest eclipse of the century".

The special nature of this eclipse is that as the moon will be passing through almost the central part of the earth's shadow, it will become darker compared to other eclipses, Debiprosad Duari, Director, Research and Academics, M.P. Birla Planetarium, said here on Sunday.

The eclipse will be best visible, almost near the zenith, from everywhere in India. The event will also be seen from the eastern half of Africa, the Middle East, central Asia and west Australia.

The last time such a lengthy total lunar eclipse took place was on July 16, 2000.

"The next lunar eclipse, also to be visible from India, will be a total one on December 10 but its duration will be for only 25 minutes", Dr. Duari said.

Lunar eclipse coincides with winter solstice after 372 years!

PTI

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PTIA view of a partial eclipse in Indore. File Photo

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100-minute-long total lunar eclipse on WednesdayAstronomers photograph eclipse, collect dataThree more eclipses this yearFirst lunar eclipse of the year set to take place on June 26

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After a wait of 372 years, sky gazers are in for a special celestial treat as winter solstice coincides with total lunar eclipse on Tuesday.

The last time the two astronomical events coincided was on December 21, 1638, Geoff Chester of U.S. Naval Observatory said.

The eclipse cannot be seen in India as it will occur during day time but astro-lovers can see the full moon turning into a delightful shade of coppery-red from Europe, west Africa, the Americas, the Pacific Ocean, eastern Australia, the Philippines and eastern and northern Asia.

Also, Tuesday (December 21) is the shortest day of the year as people living on the northern side of the equator will celebrate winter solstice.

"It is a day when the Earth's axis tilts the farthest from the sun and is called winter solstice, a term derived from Latin words 'sol' (sun) and 'sistere' (to stand still)," Science Popularisation Association of Communicators and Educators (SPACE) president C.B. Devgun said.

A solstice is an astronomical event which happens twice each year, when the tilt of the Earth's axis is most inclined toward or away from the sun, causing the sun's apparent position in the sky to reach its northernmost or southernmost extreme, he said.

On the day of winter solstice, North Pole points directly away from the sun and South Pole points directly towards the Sun, he said, adding the sun shines at lowest heights in northern skies and at maximum heights in southern skies.

This results in the shortest day in the Northern Hemisphere, but at the same time it is the longest day in Southern Hemisphere.

The winter solstice will be at 5.08 a.m. on December 22.

In Delhi, sunrise will be at 7.09 a.m. and sunset at 5.29 p.m. making it a day with about 10 hours duration, Devgun said.

The total lunar eclipse will occur at 13:47 p.m. on Tuesday, Prof R.C. Kapoor of Indian Institute of Astrophysics told PTI.

The countries from where the eclipse can be seen are favourably placed with an overhead view as the eclipse unfolds between 02:41 AM and 03:53 AM local time, he said.

The eclipse will begin at 10.58 AM IST passing through various phases and will end at 4.36 PM IST, N Raghunandan of Planetary Society of India said.

Earlier, on June 26, a partial lunar eclipse was witnessed. The next lunar eclipse will be seen on June 15, 2011, which will be total, and visible from India, he said.

The next time the two events will coincide will be on December 21, 2094, Devgun told PTI.

A 'Khagol Mela' on winter solstice has been planned by SPACE in collaboration with Nehru Planetarium at Jantar Mantar here. Students from various schools would be performing activities like measuring the sun's angle during noon and finding declination of the sun.

1.A sequence of images showing phases of the lunar eclipse over Coimbatore. Photo: K. Ananthan

2.A view of the eclipsed moon over Chennai, a little after midnight on Thursday. Photo: V. Ganesan

3.Devotees perform 'Ganga Aarti' ahead of the eclipse at Sangam in Allahabad on Wednesday. Photo: PTI

4.A view of the partial lunar eclipse as seen in Patna on Thursday. Photo: Ranjeet Kumar

5.
A partially eclipsed moon shines down on the Taj Mahal in Agra. Photo: PTI

S & T » SCIENCE

NEW DELHI, June 16, 2011

Century's longest and darkest lunar eclipse

PTI

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The lunar eclipse as seen over the Chennai skies at 00.20 hours on Thursday. Photo: V.Ganesan

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A lunar spectacle

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The moon's bright white glow turned crimson brick red when it delved into the dark centre of the earth's shadow during the century's longest and darkest lunar eclipse on Wednesday night.

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

The full moon appeared much dimmer than usual, but sunlight passing through the earth's atmosphere gave the lunar surface a deep reddish hue.

This was the century's longest and darkest total lunar eclipse as the moon immersed deeply inside the umbral (darker) shadow of the earth, Nehru Planetarium Director N. Rathnasree told PTI.

The total phase lasted 100 minutes. The last eclipse to exceed this duration was in July 2000.

The next such eclipse will only take place in 2141.

The penumbral lunar eclipse began at 22:54:34 IST and will end at 04:30:45 IST (on Thursday), she said.

The total lunar eclipse began at 00:52:30 IST and will end at 02:32:42 IST, while the partial eclipse began at 23:52:56 IST and end 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 and as the shadow descended gently, the moon's face turned red.

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

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

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