Earthlings are set to witness this century's longest lunar eclipse today. What makes the unearthly phenomenon even more interesting is the fact that the moon will be attaining a striking shade of red or ruddy brown, as it will become a "blood moon" during the eclipse. During the event, Earth's natural satellite will pass right through the centre of the Earth's shadow. In essence, the event will be a reflection of the alignment of three celestial bodies, the Sun, the Earth and the moon, in the same order and as a result, July 27, 2018, will go down in history as having one of the longest lunar eclipses ever recorded.
Interestingly, the blood moon will be totally visible in India throughout its totality period, which is said to last for 1 hour and 43 minutes this time. The totality period is the time from which the moon completely enters the umbra of the Earth's shadow to the time it leaves it. This is also the time when the moon will appear blood-red in colour. The lunar eclipse will begin at 10:44 pm in India and last till 4:58 am in the morning. The peak of the eclipse will be experienced between 1 am and 2:43 am.
For all those interested to experience the rare celestial phenomenon, US space agency NASA will be live streaming the entire event on its NASA TV starting one-hour post the eclipse begins and till one-hour prior to its end. You can watch the lunar eclipse streaming here once it starts:
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