What is so special about the November 19 Lunar Eclipse

New Delhi, Nov 17: The partial lunar eclipse that will take place on November 19 will be the longest since the one that occurred in the 15th century. The one to take place this month will span over six hours.

The eclipse will begin between 6.02 and 12.30 UTC (11.30 am to 5.33 pm IST). This occurrence takes place when the Sun, Earth and Moon will come into alignment forming a partial lunar eclipse.

For a partial lunar eclipse to take place, the condition required is a full Moon aligned in a straight line with the Sun and Earth. A partial Lunar Eclipse would not take place on every full Moon. This is because a lunar body is inclined on its orbital plane at an angle of five degrees to the Earth's orbital plane around the Sun.

A total lunar eclipse occurs when the Moon and Sun are on the opposite sides of the earth. A partial lunar eclipse on the other hand takes place when only when part of the Earth's shadow covers the Moon.

The reason why this Lunar Eclipse is so long is because it comes 41 hours after the Moon reaches apogee, which is its farthest point from the Earth. The farther away the moon is, the longer it takes to travel along. This results in more time to move out of the Earth's shadow.

The November 19 Lunar Eclipse will sustain its record for another 4,000 years. The next six hour Lunar Eclipse will take place next on October 9 2489. The last time there was such a long lunar eclipse was on November 9 2003. It spanned for six hours and three minutes. However it was a full and not a partial lunar eclipse.