We are about to witness the longest lunar eclipse of the century on the night of Friday, July 27 2018, an event that will see the moon in the Earth’s shadow for a period of at least 1 hour 43 minutes. As this period is for the total time of lunar eclipse 2018, the duration of the eclipse which includes the partial phases will be more than 6 hours. This eclipse is also called as a Blood Moon, a phenomenon during eclipses when the moon seems to be red in color. India is considered to be among the best places to see the lunar eclipse in 2018, which also includes Middle East, southern China, and eastern Africa. For those who do not know about the lunar eclipse, it is a phenomenon the moon passes behind the Earth and into its shadow, and sunlight is unable to reach it at all.
Lunar eclipse 2018 date and time of occurrence in India
The timing of the eclipse is estimated to be at 11:44 pm IST on Friday night and the total lunar eclipse 2018 is expected to start at 1 am IST from about 1:15 am to 2:43 am, the moon is expected to be in the middle of the Earth’s shadow and shall appear reddish in color. The lunar eclipse will continue until 4:58 am through the effect will not look much great.
Which is the best place to watch lunar eclipse 2018 in India
Due to the severe pollution in some metro cities in India, people may not be able to view the eclipse in its full glory, but those living in the countryside should be able to get a good view of the phenomenon. But if there are plenty of clouds in the sky, there may be a hindrance to have a good view or may not visible at all. The Delta Aquariids meteor sho
wer will also be visible to somewhat extent — the meteor shower will be visible at its peak on July 30, but even on July 27 (the day of the eclipse), the lack of light coming from the moon will allow us to somewhat spot the meteors.
Why is this lunar eclipse on 27 July 2018 so special?
The lunar eclipse on 27 July 2018 will be the longest one till June 9, 2123. There are many factors involved in its specialty. One is that the moon will be at the farthest point from Earth in its orbit. The moon will seem to be smaller than regular, and much smaller than it looks during the Super Moon (when the moon is at the closest point in its orbit from the Earth). In fact, such a phenomenon of the moon appearing small is called micro-moon. The moon in the lunar eclipse will be passing through the middle of the Earth’s shadow which means that it will spend the maximum time in darkness, thus contributing to the long duration of the eclipse.
This lunar eclipse will be a Blood Moon, where the moon will look as if reddish hue. This phenomenon happens because the sunlight refracted by the Earth’s atmosphere hits the darkened moon. Because the red wavelengths are always scattered less than the blue and violet wavelengths, the moon also appears red from our perspective.
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