HYDERABAD: Visakhapatnam will witness the Super Blue Blood moon, rare lunar eclipse that occurs only once in a few decades, on January 31 about 20 minutes before it is seen in the rest of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.
While Hyderabad residents will witness the lunar eclipse in totality, North Eastern states and Kolkata will witness the eclipse happening as the moon rises earlier there.
The day will see a lunar eclipse which is also a ‘Super Blue’ moon, making it truly a once in a blue moon event. It is the alignment of three different lunar phenomena.
Also read: Watch the Super Blue Bloody Moon Live
The total lunar eclipse will happen when the moon will enter the Earth’s shadow, ensuring that the Sun’s rays do not fall on it.
The second phenomenon which makes the moon a ‘Blue Moon’ is that it is the second full moon of January, the first occurred on January 2. The third makes it a Supermoon i.e. the moon will be the closest to the Earth.
N. Raghunandan Kumar, director of Planetary Society, said, “The moon goes around the Earth every month in an oval orbit, and it is far and near the Earth one time in a month. It is coincidental that the eclipse is happening when the moon is closest to the Earth making it seem bigger in size. The moon will also appear red due to the lunar eclipse and is also called ‘blue’ because of the popular saying, ‘Once in a blue moon’ as there are two full moons in a month very rarely.” The visible part of the eclipse will begin at 5.18 pm and last till 8.41 pm. Although a lot of speculation and rumours have been flying around about this celestial phenomenon happening after 152 years, scientists have denied the claims. They state that in 1982, a lunar eclipse did occur with a blue moon. However, US missed it because of the timeline. Many parts of Asia witnessed that event as it happened on December 30.
Dr Vijay Bhaskar, director of Centre of Space Medicine, has meanwhile asked citizens not to encourage superstitions associated with the lunar eclipse.
He said, “Pregnant women are not allowed to move during the lunar eclipse and people say a person gets a cleft lip by looking at the eclipse... people should not entertain such false beliefs and treat the day as any other day. Don’t harass pregnant women by not letting them eat food or take medicine.”
The planetary society has advised citizens to be on their terraces to witness the phenomenon, and asked school children in the city not to miss the opportunity to increase knowledge about the moon and space.
“We are glad to help children in case they need any equipment to see the celestial event,” said N. Raghunandan Kumar.
