October 2023 is turning out to be an extraordinary month with occuring of 2 celestial events within one month for Astronomy enthusiasts. On 28th of October, a rare event is occurring with the second eclipse of the month. This time, it's a lunar eclipse, also known as Chandra Grahan, happening just two weeks after the solar eclipse on October 14th.
During a lunar eclipse, Earth positions itself between the Moon and the Sun, casting its shadow onto the Moon's surface. This shadow dims the Moon and gives it a reddish hue, a result of sunlight scattering in Earth's atmosphere, which filters out shorter blue wavelengths and allows longer red wavelengths to reach the Moon. Lunar eclipses occur during the full moon phase and can be seen from roughly half of the Earth. And A partial lunar eclipse, on the other hand, happens when Earth is situated between the full moon and the sun, as per NASA.
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In India, the partial lunar eclipse will be observable from all regions around midnight. The eclipse is scheduled to start on the night of 28th October and continue into the early hours of 29th October. The penumbral phase starts at midnight on the 28th, while the umbral phase begins in the early hours of the 29th. According to official information from the Ministry of Science, the eclipse will begin at approximately 11:31 pm in India. The entire eclipse will last for 1 hour and 19 minutes, with the umbral phase beginning at 01:05 am IST on the 29th and ending at 02:24 am IST.
The partial lunar eclipse won't be limited to India; it will be observable in various other regions, including the Western Pacific Ocean, Australia, Asia, Europe, Africa, eastern South America, north-eastern North America, the Atlantic Ocean, the Indian Ocean, and the South Pacific Ocean. India, particularly, will have a clear view of the moon's gradual darkening around midnight.
The path for observing the lunar eclipse has been mapped by In-The-Sky.org, with New Delhi offering a southern view of the event, and the moon will be positioned 62 degrees above the horizon at the peak of the eclipse, as indicated by In-the-sky.
The celestial event coincides with the Hunter's Moon, which is the full moon following the Harvest Moon, historically signalling to hunters to prepare for the colder months by going hunting. The Full Hunter's Moon, following this tradition, will undergo a partial lunar eclipse on October 28, 2023. The eclipse is expected to peak around 4:14 pm Eastern Daylight Time (EDT) and conclude at approximately 6:26 pm EDT.
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