Longest lunar eclipse in 580 years. All you need to know about this celestial event – Hindustan Times

The longest partial lunar eclipse in 580 years will occur on Friday, November 19, and will be visible from a few areas in Arunachal Pradesh and Assam.

The lunar eclipse will start at 12.48pm and end at 4.17pm, Debiprosad Duari, director of research and academics Kolkata’s MP Birla Planetarium, told news agency PTI.

“A few areas in Arunachal Pradesh and Assam will experience the last fleeting moments of the partial eclipse just after the moonrise, very close to the eastern horizon,” Duari told reporters.

The partial eclipse will reach its peak at 2.34pm as 97 per cent of the moon will be covered by the earth’s shadow by then.

This particular partial lunar eclipse will be 3 hours 28 minutes and 24 seconds long, making it the longest in 580 years. The last time a lunar eclipse like this occurred was on February 18, 1440, and astronomy enthusiasts will have to wait till February 8, 2669, for another such event.

A lunar eclipse occurs when the moon is in its full phase, as the sun completely illuminates the moon’s surface and the earth is in between them. For a total lunar eclipse the sun, earth and moon have to be precisely aligned if they are not then it results in a partial lunar eclipse.

This partial lunar eclipse will also be visible from North America, South America, eastern Asia, Australia and the Pacific region.