Lunar Eclipse 2021: Blood Moon of the year to appear on May 26; Find Timings

Blood Moon 2021 is scheduled to appear on May 26. Commonly known as a total lunar eclipse or Purna Chandra Grahan in Hindi, Blood Moon occurs when the Moon moves into the Earth's shadow and reflects a reddish light in the sky. The first and last Blood Moon of 2021 will be visible to skywatchers in many parts of the world. However, for people in India, it is expected to be visible as a penumbral lunar eclipse for five minutes.

Lunar Eclipse 2021: Blood Moon Timings

According to NASA notes, the 2021 blood moon or total lunar eclipse this year will last three hours and seven minutes in total, including the partial eclipse and the total eclipse. However, the total lunar eclipse will be visible for around 15 minutes. It will start at 2:17 pm IST(08:47 am UTC). However, the full eclipse will appear at 4:41 pm IST (11:11 am UTC) and will peak at 4:48 pm IST (11:18 pm UTC) and will remain in its full state until 4:55 pm IST (11:25 am UTC). Finally, the full lunar eclipse will end at 7:19 am IST (01:49 pm UTC).

Will the total lunar eclipse be visible in India?

The total lunar eclipse, also called Blood Moon, will be visible in Southeast Asia, Australia, North America, South America, the Pacific, the Atlantic, the Indian Ocean and Antarctica, according to the Norwegian website date and time reports. Some of the cities where the total eclipse is expected to be visible include Honolulu, Houston, Los Angeles, Manila, Melbourne, San Francisco, Seoul, Shanghai, and Tokyo. It will also be partially visible in Bangkok, Chicago, Dhaka, Montreal, New York, Toronto, and Yangon. However, it is expected to only be visible as a penumbral lunar eclipse in India, more on that later.

What is Blood Moon?

A blood Moon appears when the Moon's surface turns reddish since the Earth completely blocks direct sunlight from reaching the Moon, and only the light reflected from the lunar surface is refracted by the Earth's atmosphere. Thus, it can be seen with the naked eye, without the need for any special equipment. That said, the experience would be better if you could see the eclipse through a telescope.

Lunar Eclipse 2021: How Penumbral Lunar Eclipse Occur

As we all know, the Earth moves between the Sun and the Moon during a lunar eclipse. When the Sun, Earth, and the Moon are not aligned correctly, and the Earth casts a shadow over the Moon, the lunar eclipse occur. The outer part of Earth's shadow, called the penumbra, stops the Sun's light from directly falling on the Moon. In simple words, a penumbral lunar eclipse occurs when the Moon moves through the faint, outer part of the Earth's shadow.

A penumbral eclipse is difficult to distinguish from the normal Full Moon as the penumbra is much faded than the dark core of the Earth's shadow.

When is the next Lunar Eclipse?

After the next Blood Moon, the next total lunar eclipse is scheduled for May 16, 2022. There will also be a partial lunar eclipse on November 19.

Lunar Eclipse 2021: Types of Lunar Eclipses

There are three kinds of lunar eclipse - Total lunar eclipse, partial lunar eclipse and penumbral lunar eclipse.