Chandra Grahan 2021: Will total lunar eclipse, blood moon be visible in India?

New Delhi, May 26: The first total Lunar Eclipse of 2021 would take place on Wednesday. It is also called a supermoon as it will coincide with a supermoon, a lunar eclipse and a red blood moon all at once!

The total lunar eclipse will be visible mostly from Eastern Asia, Pacific Ocean, most parts of North and South America and Australia.

What is a Super Moon?

Super Moon occurrence as when a full or new Moon coincides with its closest approach to the Earth, According to NASA. The closest point on the orbit is called "perigee," and when the full Moon appears at the perigee, it looks slightly brighter and larger than a regular full Moon, hence the name "Supermoon".

The relatively close proximity of the Moon makes it seem a little bit bigger and brighter than usual, though the difference between a supermoon and a normal moon is usually hard to notice unless you're looking at two pictures side by side.

Why is it called a blood moon?

As the totally eclipsed moon takes a dark blackish red colour (it) is called a blood moon. This happens because of the comparatively less deviation of the red part of the moon light through the earth's atmosphere and falling on the moon's surface.

Will total lunar eclipse, blood moon be visible in India?

Unfortutaly, the total lunar eclipse will not be visible in India as it will be afternoon here. The total lunar eclipse would start at 2:17 pm in India and end at 7:19 pm.

For most of India, the moon will be below the eastern horizon during the total eclipse and so people of the country cannot observe a blood moon, but in some parts, mostly from eastern India, people will see only the very last part of a partial lunar eclipse, that is also very close to the eastern horizon when the moon is just rising.

On May 26 evening, the "moon rise in Kolkata will be at 6:15 pm and the interested people will just possibly get a few minutes glimpse of the partial eclipse which will end at around 6:22 pm.

The next total lunar eclipse will occur on May 16, 2022, but, it will not be visible from the Indian subcontinent. But on November 8, 2022 a lunar eclipse will be seen from India.

Next 5 Blood Moon dates

May 16, 2022: Visible in North America, South America, Europe and Africa

November 8, 2022: Visible in North America, South America, Asia, Australia and the Pacific

March 14, 2025: Visible in North America, South America, Europe, Africa and the Pacific

September 7, 2025: Visible in Europe, Africa, Asia and Australia

March 3, 2026: Visible in North America, South America, Asia, Australia and the Pacific