Parts of east and north-east India will witness the first total lunar eclipse of 2015 on Saturday.
“Tezu & Roing in Arunachal Pradesh will witness the total lunar eclipse lasting for four minutes 43 seconds just after the moonrise. Places where the moon will be rising during the eclipse will be Dibrugarh, Imphal, Kohima and Port Blair,” a statement issued by Debiprosad Duari, director (Research and Academic) of the M.P. Birla Planetarium said.
For Kolkata, the moonrise will be around 5.50 p.m. and a partial eclipse will be visible then, Dr. Duari said, adding that the partial eclipse will end around 7.14 p.m.
“The lunar eclipse will start around 3.45 pm. The eclipse will be total at 5.27 pm and will remain total until 5.32 p.m. Thereafter, the partial eclipse will last up to 7.14 p.m,” he said.
Commenting on the celestial phenomenon Dr. Duari said that the eclipse on Saturday is a unique one as the duration of the totality will be very short compared to other total eclipses. “This time, rather than passing deep into the Earth shadow, the moon will be passing through the shadow’s edge. The period of the totality, when the moon is fully enclosed in the Earth’s umbral shadow, will last just four and half minutes or so,” Dr. Duari said.
