Total lunar eclipses occur when the moon is near a node at full moon i.e. when the Earth comes between the sun and the moon, blocking sun’s rays from lighting up the moon while a partial lunar eclipse occurs when the Earth moves between the sun and the full moon but they are not precisely aligned since only a part of the moon’s visible surface moves into the dark part of the Earth’s shadow called the umbra, whereas the rest of the moon is covered by the outer part of the Earth’s shadow called the penumbra. For selenophiles, sky gazers and celestial body lovers, we have exciting news – a reddish moon or Beaver Blood Moon lunar eclipse is slated to be visible in the night sky this month.

This will be a total lunar eclipse, second one this year and the last total lunar eclipse for about 3 years, which happens when the full moon moves into the deep umbral shadow of the Earth and receives only light first filtered by Earth’s atmosphere. Throughout the entire event, it will safe to watch the lunar eclipse with the naked-eye but the more interesting part is that Uranus, the seventh planet of our galaxy, will also be close to the eclipsed moon but will be visible briefly hidden behind the moon in parts of Asia — including Hong Kong.

During this total lunar eclipse, the viewers in North America and parts of South America, Asia, Australia and New Zealand will be able to see the moon turn a reddish-copper colour for 85 minutes on November 8, 2022 while those in Iceland, parts of South America, south and central Asia and Russia will witness a partial lunar eclipse and a penumbral lunar eclipse will be visible from eastern Brazil and Argentina, northern Scandinavia and the Middle East on the same day.

In India too, the people will be able to witness a total lunar eclipse with naked eye on the same day, which according to NASA, will begin on November 8 at 05:17 am EST (09:17 GMT) and will end at 6:42 am EST (10:42 GMT) while the partial lunar eclipse will begin on November 8 at 4:44 am EST (08:44 GMT) and will then be visible until 8:05 a.m. EST (12:05 GMT). This means that the partial lunar eclipse begins in India at 2:39 pm while the total lunar eclipse begins at 3:46 pm and ends at 5:11 pm with maximum total lunar eclipse visible at 4:29 pm.

As per the reports, the lunar eclipse in its totality will not be observed from everywhere in India since the event begins when the moon is below the horizon everywhere in the country, except some eastern parts of India including Kolkata, Kohima, Agartala and Guwahati that will see the total lunar eclipse clearly. Srinagar will see the eclipsed moon rise above the horizon at 17:31 hours with an obscuration of nearly 66 percent, people in New Delhi will see a partial eclipse with moonrise at around 17:31 hours, those in Mumbai will see it at around 18:03 hours with only 14 percent obscuration, Bengaluru will see the moon with 23 per cent of its disc obscured by the earth’ shadow at 17:57 hours while those in Nagpur will effectively see the eclipse around 17:32 hours.