On the night of 27^th July 2018, this century’s longest lunar eclipse will be witnessed. It is expected to be the longest blood moon that has been witnessed so far in 100 years. It will start in the night of 27^th July and continue till early hours of 28^th July.

For more than 1 hour and 45 minutes the moon will be visible in scarlet red hue. This duration is reportedly longer than any other blood moon measured in the recent times. It is also being said that the opposition of Mars will also happen on these dates. This phenomenon will be visible in different parts of the world. This lunar eclipse is going to be a unique one this year.

On the night of July 27, the moon will fall completely in Earth’s shadow. The eclipse will be visible in East Africa, South America, Middle East and Central Asia and can also be seen in India. During a total lunar eclipse, the earth’s satellite appears to be red in colour when no sunlight falls on the moon’s surface.

 What happens is that sunlight from Earth’s surface falls on the surface of the Moon, but when it is seen on Earth, the Moon appears red.

The reason: the Earth’s atmosphere will scatter light of the smaller wavelength like blue and green, but allow the red light, which is of longer wavelength, to pass through to the satellite’s surface. That’s why the Moon looks red in colour during the total lunar eclipse.

 Blood Moon will be visible in India. The first phase will be visible from 11:43 p.m. on 27^th July and is expected to last until 1 a.m. on 28^th July. The moon is expected to set which could last until 2:43 a.m. The second phase of the eclipse will be seen until 3: 49 a.m. It has been warned by experts that the visibility of the moon will be limited.

(inputs from authentic sources)