Total lunar eclipse turns Moon RED, India witnesses

New Delhi, Jun 16: As

, the Moon face indeed turned red during the longest and darkest lunar eclipse on Wednesday, Jun 15. Thousands of people witnessed the rarest moment when the white glow of the moon turned crimson brick red.

People witnessed the rarest 100 minutes as the total lunar eclipse began at 00:52:30 IST and ended at 02:32:42 IST, while the partial eclipse began at 23:52:56 IST and ended at 03:32:15 IST.

Providing an insight into the lunar eclipse, Gujarat Science City's senior scientist Narottam Sahoo earlier said, "This will be the darkest lunar eclipse in 87 years as the centres of the sun, the earth and the moon would be nearly in one straight line."

"The last such lunar eclipse was observed on August 6, 1971 and the next one will be 47 years from now on, on June 6, 2058," added Sahoo.

Apart from India, the eclipse was visible in the eastern half of Africa, the Middle East, central Asia and western Australia. Sky-gazers in Europe will miss the phenomenon since the initial stages of the eclipse will occur before moonrise.

A total lunar eclipse or chandragrahan occurs when the earth moves directly in between the moon and the sun and the earth's shadow falls on the moon.

Meanwhile, Google Doodle provided a chance to witness the longest and darkest lunar eclipse to all those who missed the moment on Wednesday midnight. The search engine giant posted the live stream video of the total lunar eclipse.

OneIndia News