Arunanchal Pradesh – Parts of Eastern India will today witness the year’s first total “Blood Moon”, formally lunar eclipse. Today’s total lunar eclipse will be able to last for just about four and a half minutes in parts of eastern India that includes Kolkata. The lunar eclipse will start at 3.45 p.m. and last until 7.14 p.m. Unlike solar eclipse, it is not dangerous to view lunar eclipse without eye protection, although you can use vision aids to catch a better image of the happenings.
Lunar eclipse occurs when the sun, the earth and the moon align themselves in such a manner than the earth comes between the sun and the moon. The result is that the shadow of the earth is cast on the moon, causing the moon to glow in red, which has become known as blood moon.
Two lunar eclipses in 2015
This year, two lunar eclipses are expected whereby the first one is the incident happening today and the other one will happen in September.
Hours to witness the eclipse
In the eastern Arunachal Pradesh, residents will be able to have a good view of the first lunar eclipse in 2015. Total lunar eclipse will last for about four minutes and 43 seconds, considered the shortest this century. The phenomenal lunar eclipse will be visible in the eastern parts of India begin 3.45 p.m. on Saturday and remain total up and until 5.32 p.m. In Kolkata, partial lunar eclipse will start showing around 5.50 p.m. and end at 7.14 p.m.
The difference between today’s lunar eclipse and the previous ones is that the duration of total eclipse is significantly small. That is happening because the moon will mostly be passing through the edges of the earth’s shadow rather than deepen into the shadow.
Lunar eclipse in other parts of the globe
Other parts of the world will also be able to catch the lunar eclipse. In the U.S. for instance, lunar eclipse will be witnessed in the West Coast. Australia, Indonesia, New Zealand and Japan will also see the lunar eclipse, but at varying hours.
