M’loreans went ‘Wow’ having Glimpse of ‘Lunar Eclipse’-‘Blue Moon’ & ‘Super Moon’
Mangaluru: It was indeed a triple treat for hundreds of Mangaloreans who had gathered at the Mangaluru City Corporation Swimming Pool Area; and also on the terrace of “Spoorthi Complex” (opposite Cordel Hall), Kulshekar, Mangaluru, where they got an chance to have a glimpse of the ‘Total Lunar Eclipse’; ‘Blue Moon’; and ‘Super Moon’, all three on the same night of, 31 January 2018.
Eclipses are all celestial events to be enjoyed. On the 31st of January citizens here had an rare event of two full moons in a month, super moon, blue moon etc. And the so called astrologers have declared that the effect of this eclipse will be seen in the entire month of Magha. On this day, the moon will appear in three colours, such a moon was seen 35 years back. On this day of Chandra Grahan, it is considered inauspicious to see God. Therefore, the doors of the temple were closed. Lunar eclipse in India will also start the Sutak time. The Sutak time will start from Wednesday, January 31, at 7.00 a.m., and ends around 8:15 pm. This eclipse was auspicious for some people and was inauspicious for others. The moon looked bigger than ordinary days and the blood moon appeared in the sky.
On Wednesday, 31 January 2018 while most of the world got to see not only a blue moon and a super moon, but also a total lunar eclipse, all rolled into one-even in Mangaluru, the citizens in large numbers anxiously waited to experience the “Triple Treat:- and they got to see what they wanted to see? Sources reveal that there hasn’t been a triple line-up like this since 1982 and the next won’t occur until 2037; A blue moon is the second full moon in a month. A super moon is a phenomenon, when moon appears slightly bigger (about 10 per cent or more) and a little brighter than normal. A total lunar eclipse is when earth comes exactly between the sun and the moon and the earth’s shadow falls on the moon.
During a total lunar eclipse, some of the sun’s rays get refracted through the earth’s atmosphere and strike the moon, which thereby takes on a low brown red glow. Therefore, it alternatively also referred to as blood moon. Today, the moon will be closest to Earth, just over 223,000 miles (359,000 kilometers). The main eclipse (all three phenomena together) started around 6.45 pm after sunset and was seen in the eastern sky as the moon just got risen by then. It got over in an hour’s time by 7:45 pm.
In Asia, the last Blue Moon and total lunar eclipse happened on December 30, 1982. Lunar eclipse : A lunar eclipse is a spectacular celestial show, during which the bright, pearly-white disc of the full Moon turns dark, and sometimes takes on the colour of dark copper, or even dried blood. A lunar eclipse occurs when the Sun, the Earth and the Moon are so aligned that for a period of time, the full Moon passes through the shadow of Earth in space (called Earth’s Umbra).
Why is it called a Blue Moon? This full Moon occurs twice in a calendar month, the last one being on January 2. The next one, seen on January 31, is termed a “Blue Moon”. The Moon does not turn blue but historically the second full Moon of an English calendar month is termed as a Blue Moon. Hence the oft-quoted phrase of a rare occurrence of any event as “once in a Blue Moon”.
Super Moon :The coming lunar eclipse was more spectacular because during the eclipse, the Moon was near its perigee and hence it looked larger than an average full Moon, and is termed a Super Moon.
So this rare event happened after 152 years? And the viewers didn’t need any special binoculars or a telescope to see this phenomenon-they all saw through the naked eye.Want to know, when is the next total lunar eclipse? The next total lunar eclipse will be visible in India on July 27, 2018 but it will not be a Blue Moon or a Super Moon.
