Department of Science and Technology along with Pondicherry Science Forum has made arrangements to witness the Lunar Eclipse here on the intervening night of July 16- 17.
An official release here on Sunday said, on the night of July 16 and in the early morning of July 17, Indians can watch a partial eclipse of the full moon. On this day one can see the moon sweeps through part of the Earth’s dark umbral shadow.
The eclipse is visible from India and many other countries of Asia, Africa, Part of Europe, south America during the early hours of July 17.
A lunar eclipse can only happen at full moon, because that’s the only time the moon can be directly opposite of the sun in Earth’s sky. A partial lunar eclipse occurs when the Earth moves between the Sun and the Moon, but the three celestial objects do not form exactly a straight line. When this happens, a small part of the Moon’s surface is covered by the darkest, central part of the Earth’s shadow, called the umbra.
On July 17, full moon travels through the Earth’s outer faint penumbral shadow before and after partially sweeping through the Earth’s inner dark umbral shadow.
However, the penumbral stage of the eclipse is so faint that many people won’t even notice it, even as it’s taking place.
(UNI)
