Kolkata joins rest of country in enjoying total lunar eclipse

Astrophysicist and former director of M P Birla Planetarium Deviprasad Duari said that the eclipse began around 8:58 pm when the moon entered the semi dark region of the shadow of the Earth, called penumbra.

Kolkata: In a total lunar eclipse, the full moon turned dark for more than an hour during late night in the city on Sunday along with rest of the country.

The eclipse began around 8:58 pm when the moon entered the semi dark region of the shadow of the Earth, called penumbra, renowned astrophysicist and former director of M P Birla Planetarium Deviprasad Duari said.

White it is sometimes difficult to realise a penumbral eclipse with naked eye, as the brightness of the full moon diminishes marginally, "by 9:57 pm the Moon started getting partially eclipsed progressively and exactly around 11:00 pm, the eclipse was total, when Moon completely came under the shadow of the Earth, called the umbral region of the Earth's shadow, Duari explained.

The total eclipse of the Moon continued till 12:22 am, after midnight.

It then entered the partial eclipse phase which gradually decreased over time and ultimately the full moon emerged blazing with its white light by 1:26 am at the intervening night of September 7-8, he elaborated.

The penumbral eclipse ended at around 2:25 am.

Duari explained "the redness of an eclipsed moon becomes prominent, when Moon is near the horizon and the moonlight has to pass through a larger part of the atmosphere thereby accentuating the red-orange colouration of the moon under the shadow of the Earth." On the night of September 7, Asia, Africa, Australia and parts of Europe got a spectacular view of all phases of a total lunar eclipse and that also of a full blood moon, he explained.

During the event, which lasted about five hours, the Moon moved through Earth's shadow in space.

"It was gradually engulfed by that shadow, taking on a copper-reddish colour — hence the name "blood moon" — for 1 hour 22 minutes, making it the longest total lunar eclipse since 2022," he informed.

A lunar eclipse occurs when the Sun, Earth, and Moon align exactly so that the Moon passes through the Earth’s shadow. This alignment is relatively rare because the Moon’s orbit is slightly tilted to the Sun-Earth orbital plane, and that is the reason lunar eclipses do not occur at every full moon, he said.

While space enthusiasts gathered on roof tops of their houses and apartments in the city, on open grounds in villages across Bengal to watch the celestial event by naked eyes or telescope, the Birla Industrial and Technological Museum in city organised a live demonstration with telescope for students, youth and enthusiasts for three hours, a spokesperson said.