Washington/ New Delhi: A partial lunar eclipse is to occur on Saturday, accompanied by an optical illusion which is to make the moon look bigger than the normal. The illusion which will be a spectacle to observers will begin at 1017 GMT.
According to NASA, low-hanging moon look "unnaturally large when they beam through trees, buildings and other foreground objects".
The reason for this phenomenon is not understood.
The eclipse occurs when a part of the moon will pass through earth’s shadow making it temporarily become dark. Know as the “moon illusion” the eclipse will be visible right across the parts of the Americas, Asia and Pacific tonight.
The eclipse will not be visible from the UK or Europe, but is visible in many parts of US and Canada.
The eclipse in India will start at 2.27 p.m. and end at 7.50 p.m. The partial phase of the eclipse will last for 2 hour 43 minutes. This eclipse would be the last one in 2010 for India.
"The visibility in India will be at the end of the eclipse. The ending of the eclipse is visible from the extreme northeastern states at the time of moonrise during the eclipse," said the ministry of earth sciences.
According to experts, no filters are required for watching the eclipse.
"One can spot the moon in east direction after sunset. One would see upper part of moon`s disk immersed in earth`s dark shadow and slowly leaving," said NS Raghunandan Kumar, general secretary of the Planetary Society.
The next lunar eclipse will occur December 21 but it will not be visible in India.
With IANS inputs
