Moon magic! Here's what the longest partial lunar eclipse in 600 years looked like
The amazing visual was the longest since 1440 and won’t take place again until the far-off future of 2669
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Stargazers were stunned and left speechless when the longest partial lunar eclipse since 1440 was spotted, turning the moon various shades of red. The celestial show saw the lunar disc almost completely cast in shadow as it moved behind the Earth, reddening 97 percent of its face. AP
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Lunar eclipses happen when Earth blocks the sun’s light, which usually illuminates the moon. The partial eclipse took three hours and 28 minutes to end, the longest of its kind in 580 years. Because the moon was nearing apogee, its farthest point from Earth, it was moving particularly slowly in orbit. PTI
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The next time a partial lunar eclipse will last this long will be in 2669, although there will be a total lunar eclipse on 8 November 2022 that will last just as long. AFP
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Those in western Asia, Australia and New Zealand missed the early stages, while people in South America and Western Europe missed the later stages. Meanwhile, it wasn’t visible at all in Africa or the Middle East. AFP
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For those wondering what’s a partial lunar eclipse, this is its simplified explanation: It occurs when the Earth comes between the moon and the sun, causing the Earth’s shadow to eclipse our natural satellite. AFP
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In India, the eclipse was visible from some areas of Assam and Arunachal Pradesh for a short while. The eclipse in India lasted from 12:48 pm to 4:17 pm. AFP
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The red colouring is caused by a phenomenon known as ‘Rayleigh scattering’, where shorter blue lightwaves from the Sun are dispersed by particles in the Earth’s atmosphere, whereas the longer red lightwaves pass through the particles. AP
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People look on by a telescope as people gather to observe a lunar eclipse from the observation deck of Roppongi Hills in Tokyo. AFP
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