Skywatchers mesmerised with glimpse of `Blood Moon` in total lunar eclipse

Zee Media Bureau

New Delhi: Skygazers were in for a delight as they witnessed the `Blood Moon` crossing Earth`s shadow on Tuesday night. Blood moon is a sequence of lunar eclipses called a tetrad that will occur over the next two years. During a total lunar eclipse, the moon is entirely immersed in the Earth shadow, and can take on a dusky "blood red" colour due to the scattering of sunlight through the edges of Earth`s atmosphere. The lunar eclipse unfolded over three hours, beginning at about 2am EDT, when the moon began moving into Earth`s shadow. Depending on local weather conditions, the eclipse was visible across a swath of the United States. The eclipse was also seen in Australia, New Zealand and all of the Americas. In a statement made on Twitter, NASA said, “The celestial show was over by over by 5:30am EDT (0930 GMT)”. This lunar eclipse is the first of four consecutive total eclipses of the moon between April 2014 and September 2015, what scientists call a lunar eclipse "tetrad" series. The next will occur on October 8. (With Agencies inputs)