CHENNAI: Birla Planetarium was teeming with thousands to watch the lunar eclipse on Saturday, that was visible in Chennai after the last eclipse on April 26, 2013.
While rumours were rife that it was the decade's shortest, P Iyamperumal, Head of Planetarium, told Express those were misconceptions. "This is a normal lunar eclipse but visible as partial eclipse from Chennai," he told Express, adding that total eclipse was visible in South and North America, east Asia and Australia. However, the excitement peaked by 6.30 pm.
Moon rising above St Thomas Mount during the Lunar Eclipse on the eve of Easter, in the city, on Saturday | Albin Mathew "There were clouds that came in the way, and the moon was orange, not red," said Rithanya S who never missed a lunar eclipse.
Many enthusiasts that Express spoke to seemed unhappy as the moon was red for only five minutes from 6.40 to 6.45 pm.
"I could only see a mix of yellow and orange. I wanted to see a red moon," said Sultan Abbas, a Class IX student. His family said the red moon lasted a short time.
Meanwhile, some aerospace students, who were members of the Students for Exploration and Development of Space (SEDS) that has direct ties with the Boston-based Massachusetts Institute of Technology, said the eclipse was a rare tetrad - four total eclipses within a period of six months.
"It's special as it comes after Good Friday. In Christianity it is believed that once the 'blood moon' rises, Jesus returns," said Karna Vignesh, president, SEDS, Chennai chapter.
The partial eclipse was from 3.45 pm to 5.31 pm, after which the longer one was visible till 7.15 pm.
"In Chennai, the blood red moon was expected to be visible for 12 minutes, but clouds intervened and it lasted barely five minutes," Iyamperumal said.
The moon's red colour was because of sun and the earth's imbalanced orientation with the moon that altered the way the light passed around the bodies.
Chennai would see the next lunar eclipse on August 7, 2017.
via Science - Google News http://ift.tt/1EYhseR
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