There will be a rare celestial spectacle – Total Lunar Eclipse 2022 in Jaipur today. This is the second eclipse after 15 days and also the last lunar eclipse of this year. After this, the next lunar eclipse will befall in March 2025.
This celestial spectacle will appear as if all the world’s sunrises and sunsets are cast onto the Moon. This blood moon will be visible in India, so its Sutak period will remain in the whole country including Rajasthan. It will occur in Jaipur from 5.37 pm to 6:19 pm. It will last for 42 minutes.
What is a lunar eclipse?
A lunar eclipse is basically when the Moon moves into the Earth’s shadow. This can occur only when the Sun, Earth, and Moon are very closely aligned with Earth between the other two. And what’s more fascinating is that during a lunar eclipse, the Moon will turn red because of a phenomenon called Rayleigh scattering.
Scientific reason behind the lunar eclipse
“The Moon is constantly revolving around the Earth. The Earth is revolving around the Sun, as well as rotating on its own axis. The moon has no light of its own. It is illuminated only by the light of the sun. The Moon reflects only the light of the Sun. Due to which we see the moon shining. Whenever the Earth comes between the Sun and the Moon.
So the moon is not visible from the part of the earth we live on. Because the moon hides behind the earth. This happens when the Sun, the Earth and the Moon all come in a straight line. This is a completely natural astronomical phenomenon. We can see this sight from the earth with open eyes. This phenomenon can also be seen through telescopic lenses or binoculars.
Lunar Eclipse and its visibility in India
The eclipse will be ascertained in places such as North and Central America, Asia, Australia, and New Zealand. The beautiful reddish hue of the moon will also be witnessed in a few parts of India at its “totality ending” phase with the dimming red colour visible. It will be visible in Agartala (Tripura), Aizawl (Mizoram), Bhagalpur (Bihar), Bhubaneswar and Cuttack (Odisha), Kohima (Nagaland), Kolkata and Darjeeling (West Bengal).
Witness the red hued Moon
There will be no need for any equipment to observe the lunar eclipse but telescopes and binoculars will definitely improve the experience. The NASA experts say that the moon appears more red if there is more dust or clouds in Earth’s atmosphere during the eclipse.