You might not know how it occurred or why it was a significant occurrence. But you sure would have heard a lot discussed about the “longest lunar eclipse in a decade” even before it occurred on June 15.
It was quite an anticipated event, because it's not everyday that the moon hides behind the earth blocking the sun's rays from reaching the moon for 100 long minutes. The next such eclipse is forecast to take place only in 2141.
The total lunar eclipse began at 12.52 a.m. and ended at 02:32 a.m., while the partial eclipse began at 11.52 p.m. and ended at 03:32 a.m.
Being a school day and way beyond bedtime, not many got to see it. Dinesh and his sister Lavanya of St. Mathias Anglo-Indian School were woken up around 11.00 p.m. to watch the eclipse without knowing that it was way too early to catch a glimpse of the eclipse. So after looking at the sky in vain for any signs of the eclipse, the duo went back to sleep. “But we did catch the eclipse on TV the next day before going to school. It looked very different. We spoke about in school that day.”
Shantanu has a different experience to narrate. This Std VII student of D.A.V. Senior Secondary School, was woken up by his grandmother at 2 a.m. to witness the eclipse. After fighting sleep to watch the moon turn from black to orange, he went back and hit the bed. Yet, the whole experience was worth sacrificing sleep for. “The moon looked like it was a lot closer to earth. It was beautiful to watch.”
It wasn't an experience exclusive to India. Being a central eclipse, it was visible over Europe and South America after sunset, over Africa and most of Asia, and Australia before sunrise. So children from other countries also bore witness to it.
Darshen Nagappen, 14, from Johannesburg, South Africa had planned to watch the lunar eclipse ever since January because he saw it in his diary. “When I saw the moon darkening, I was really excited because it was the second time I was going to see the lunar eclipse. I saw the moon completely orange. It was such a good experience.”
Meanwhile his sister, Prishani, 13, was at a concert when the eclipse occurred. “Once the clock struck nine, many children started running out to watch it. It was amazing and that was the first time I watched the lunar eclipse. So it was a special and memorable eclipse for me.”
