Save the date: Lunar eclipse to grace Indian skies on August 7

(Representational image)

New Delhi: For all you space enthusiasts in India, who are a tad bit disappointed about the August 21 rare total solar eclipse not being visible in India, there's some good news for you!

Celestial spectacles are a delight to witness and there's one about to grace the Indian skies. The night of August 7, get your viewing equipment ready to witness a lunar eclipse that will continue till the wee hours of the next morning.

Besides India, the celestial event will be visible in Asia, Europe, and Africa as well.

N Rathnashree, director of the Nehru Planetarium, Delhi said the penumbral part of the lunar eclipse, which is difficult to discern, will start at 9:20 pm on Monday night, while the partial phase will start at 10:52 pm.

The partial eclipse ends at 12:48 am while the penumbral eclipse ends at 2:20 am on August 8.

A penumbral lunar eclipse occurs when the Sun, the Earth, and the Moon align in an almost straight line.

In this scenario, the Earth blocks some of the Sun's light from directly reaching the Moon's surface and covers all or part of the Moon with the outer part of its shadow, also known as the penumbra.

"The interesting thing about lunar eclipse timings is that anywhere on Earth from where the Moon is visible during eclipse, the time will be the same. This is in contrast to a solar eclipse in which the timings of the contacts change as the location changes on Earth," Rathnashree said.

Also, the US and Canada can view the total solar eclipse, but cannot see the lunar eclipse.

The Nehru Planetarium will be setting up telescopes to help visitors observe the Moon before the eclipse and the partial phases of the eclipse, at the Teen Murti lawns from 9 pm on Monday night.

(With PTI inputs)