Hyderabad: A total lunar eclipse, the second and last one of the year will occur today but star gazers in India can only witness its last stage as moon will be below the horizon during most of the eclipse.
A total lunar eclipse is also known as a "blood moon" due to the coppery, reddish color the moon takes as it passes into Earth's shadow.
"The eclipse of moon will begin at 1:43 PM IST when it will enter the penumbral shadow of the Earth. The totality of the eclipse will begin at 3:54 PM and end at 7:05 PM," Director Nehru Planetarium, Nehru Centre Mumbai Arvind Paranjpye told PTI.
The maximum eclipse will be seen at 4:24 PM and the totality will end on 4:54 PM and the moon will leave the penumbra at 7:04 PM, he said.
The first lunar eclipse of the year had occurred on April 15.
A lunar eclipse takes place on the full moon night when sun, earth and the moon come on a straight line.
Normally, during the full moon phase that takes place once every month, the moon passes slightly below or above the shadow of earth.
This is because the plane in which the Moon orbits the earth is inclined by about 5 degrees (red lines below).
But on occasions, when moon passes through the shadow zone of the Earth (between blue lines), lunar eclipse is seen.
The shadow of earth has two parts, the central dark part is called umbra and the lighter outer part is called penumbra.
