Partial lunar eclipse in the night sky

Avid sky watchers were in for a treat as a partial lunar eclipse occurred in the night sky theatre on Thursday. The earth's shadow swept past the moon turning a yellow shining full moon into a dim red one.

The awesome spectacle of the moon being eclipsed was visible all over the country, including the national capital.

A partial lunar eclipse occurs when only part of the Moon passes through the umbra, or darkest part, of Earth's shadow, Science Popularisation Association of Communicators and Educators Director C B Devgun told PTI.

As the earth came in between the sun and the moon, its shadow first began sweeping across the moon blocking out much of its bright light and as the shadow descended gently, the moon's face turned red.

The Moon entered the penumbra at 10:47 pm, Nehru Planetarium Director N Rathnasree told PTI. The partial eclipse will start at 00:22:43 am on January 1, 2010 and will end at 01:22:41 am, she said.

The magnitude of the eclipse will be 0.082. The astronomical event will also be observed in all of Asia and Europe, major parts of Africa and small portion of south western Australia, Devgun said.

The beginning, the middle and the ending of the eclipse will be visible from all parts of India, he said.

The year saw three penumbral lunar eclipses on February 9, July 7 and August 6. The last time a lunar eclipse took place on a New Year day was in the year 1741, Prof R C Kapoor of Indian Institute of Astro Physics told PTI.

Image: The moon is seen during a partial lunar eclipse in Shanghai on Jan 1

Photograph: Aly Song / Reuters