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Thursday, June 2, 2011

Darkest lunar eclipse in 40 years on June 15

On June 15, Mumbaikars will be witness to the darkest lunar eclipse in 40 years.

Nehru planetarium programme coordinator, Suhas B Naik-Satam , said that the eclipse, which will be visible across India, will begin at 11.53 pm on June 15 and end at 3.32 am on June 16.

If the skies are clear, the planetarium will arrange for the public to view the eclipse through telescopes. Naik-Satam said that the last time such an eclipse took place was on August 6, 1971.

On the night of the eclipse, the sun, earth and the moon will align and the moon will pass through the shadow cast by the earth.

As the moon slips into the earth's shadow, it will slowly turn crimson. The moon will appear coppery red once it works its way towards the darkest part of the earth's umbra.

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