Paris, Nov 04: The Moon will turn a shade of red on coming Sunday when it will be fully eclipsed by the Earth, whose shadow will blot out all but a tiny fraction of solar light, astronomers have said.
Total lunar eclipses occur when the Sun, the Earth and the Moon are all in alignment and the Moon travels into the broad cone of shadow cast by the Earth.
The Moon does not become invisible, though, because there is still residual sunlight that is deflected towards it by the earth's atmosphere, most of which is light in the red part of the spectrum.
That causes the Moon to appear as a dark colour, usually a coppery red, orange or even brown. The Earth's shadow will begin to creep over the Moon at about 23:30 GMT on Saturday (05:00 IST on Sunday), Britain's Royal Astronomical Society said in a press statement here.
The period of total eclipse will be relatively short, lasting from 01:06 to 01:31 GMT, and the last remnant of the shadow will leave the lunar face at 03:05 GMT.
"We are not expecting the Moon to become very dark during this eclipse," the society's spokeswoman, Jacqueline Mitton, said. "It is likely to have a bright rim at its southern edge, which will only just be inside the shadow." The entire event will be visible from Europe, Northern and Western Africa and some Eastern parts of North and South America.
Australia, New Zealand, Japan and other parts of East Asia will be unable to see it. Bureau Report