Dr. Debiprosad Duari : (Director, Research and Academic at M. P. Birla Institute of Fundamental Research.) Kolkata, 20th. May 2021. Two events on 26th May will cause interests among the people. Both natural, but one is potentially destructive, cyclone Yaas and one a cosmic beauty, that of a Total Lunar Eclipse. A rare Super Blood Flower Moon is going to occur at the Eastern Sky on 26th May evening. In its journey around the Earth, Moon will go through a number of phenomena for being termed as Super, Blood and Flower Full Moon. This will be a Total Eclipse of the Moon since 21 January, 2019 when it was not visible from India. Kolkata has seen its last total lunar eclipse, ten years ago, on 10th December, 2011.
The night of 26th May, it will be a Full Moon, but with a difference. Moon will be near its closest point to Earth, called perigee, in its slightly elliptic orbit around the Earth. Moon will be at its perigee on that day exactly at around 7:23 hrs. IST, at a distance of 3,57,309 km. from Earth. The Moon will technically become a Full Moon with 100% illumination of its disk at around 21:02 hrs on that night.
Secondly, the Sun, Earth and Moon alignment will be such that from Earth it will be viewed as a Full Moon and also eclipsed for some time. Moon on its journey around the Earth will be passing through Earthâs shadow for a few moments and will be totally eclipsed. Since during a totally eclipsed Moon takes a dark blackish red colour it will be called a Blood Moon. This happens because of the comparatively less deviation of the red part of the moon light through the Earthâs atmosphere and falling on the moonâs surface. The reason why the moon takes on a reddish colour during totality is a phenomenon called Rayleigh scattering. It is the same mechanism responsible for causing beautiful and colourful sunrises and sunsets, and for the sky to look blue.
So, a bigger, brighter, eclipsed Full Moon occurrence has given it the name of a Super Blood Full Moon. The word âflowerâ, sometimes called âpinkâ moon is from native American folklore.
Notwithstanding the deaths and carnage the country is facing, if the sight of a big, bright Full Moon on the night of 26th can create a moment of relief and introspection and uplift the human spirit for somebody, that will be great ! That is the reason of my post. One should live and survive to experience these natural wonders and hence we should try hard to stay safe, avoid danger and continue to live positively !! It may sound strange, but, I will hope it happens even for a single person!
The total Lunar Eclipse will be visible mostly from Eastern Asia, Pacific Ocean, most parts of North & South Americas and Australia. The Partial Eclipse of the Moon will start at around 15:15 hrs., IST and End at 18:22 IST. Whereas the Totality of the Eclipse will occur during 16:41 hrs. and 16:56 Hrs., IST for a duration of about 14 minutes. The greatest eclipse will be around 16:50 hrs, IST, and hence not to be seen by anyone on the Indian subcontinent. For most of India Moon will be below the eastern horizon during the total eclipse, and so people from India cannot observe a blood moon, but some parts, mostly from eastern India will see only the very last part of a partial lunar eclipse, that also very close to the Eastern Horizon when the moon is just rising.
On that evening, the moonrise in Kolkata will be at 18:15 hrs. and the interested people will just possibly get a few minutes glimpse of the partial eclipse which will end at around 18:22 hrs., if the cloud cover, generated by the cyclonic weather as predicted allows. For the other metropolis like Delhi, Mumbai and Chennai the eclipse will not be seen as during the eclipse phase moon will be below the horizon at these places. Most of the country will have to be satisfied with a penumbral eclipse, which is not very much discernible with naked eye, when moon passes through a slightly shadowed region of the Earth and is not really very spectacular. The penumbral eclipse will end at around 19:19 hrs. But throughout the rset of the night, sky permitting, one can enjoy a bright, bigger full moon, bathing the earth with its soft ethereal glow!
But, people who can take away their mind from the critical situation in the country for few moments can see a very bright and bigger Full Moon on that night. At perigee a Full Moon looks 30% bigger and 14% brighter than an average Full Moon. That is the reason the full moon will shine brighter and also look bigger on that night. So, But throughout the rest of the night, sky permitting, one can enjoy a bright, bigger full moon, bathing the earth in its soft ethereal glow!
The next Total Lunar eclipse will occur on May 16, 2022, but, it will not be visible from the Indian subcontinent. But on November 8, 2022 an eclipse will be seen from India.
Dr. Debiprosad Duari.
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