The Longest Lunar Eclipse of the Century Tonight - Live by Google !!
A NASA video on "How Lunar Eclipse Works" |
The longest and darkest total lunar eclipse of the century will occur on Wednesday, giving sky enthusiasts all over the country an opportunity to witness the event. The total phase of this lunar eclipse will last 100 minutes. The last eclipse to exceed this duration was in July 2000. The next such eclipse will only take place in 2141.
The total lunar eclipse will begin at 00:52:30 IST and end at 02:32:42. The partial eclipse will begin at 23:52:56 IST and end at 03:32:15.(Indian Times).
A lunar eclipse occurs when Earth lines up directly between the sun and the moon, blocking the sun's rays and casting a shadow on the moon. As the moon moves deeper and deeper into Earth's shadow, the moon changes color before your very eyes, turning from gray to an orange or deep shade of red.
The moon takes on this new color because indirect sunlight is still able to pass through Earth's atmosphere and cast a glow on the moon. Our atmosphere filters out most of the blue colored light, leaving the red and orange hues that we see during a lunar eclipse. Extra particles in the atmosphere, from say a recent volcanic eruption, will cause the moon to appear a darker shade of red.
Unlike solar eclipses, lunar eclipses are perfectly safe to view without any special glasses or equipment. All you need is your own two eyes. The entire event will be seen from the eastern half of Africa, the Middle East, Central Asia and western Australia.
Want to know the geeky things of Lunar Eclipse -> NASA's Lunar Eclipse Page
Google Live Feed
US will be missing this spectacular once in a life time event. Many sky enthusiasts may not be able to pack their bags to move to places, to catch the glimpse. So for their (and for google's self) rescue Google is live feeding the whole eclipse. You can watch the live feed here -> http://www.youtube.com/google . Unable to see ?? Please check the time, it is from 23:52:56 IST and end at 03:32:15.(Indian Standard Time GMT+5:30).
Watch it live through space camera -> http://eclipse.slooh.com/