Shortest Total Lunar Eclipse to Occur on April 4

A total Lunar Eclipse will occur on April 4, and is expected to be visible all over India depending on the weather conditions. A lunar eclipse occurs when the earth comes in between the moon and the sun, casting a shadow on the moon. The eclipse occurs on a full moon day. This is the shortest lunar eclipse of the century. This eclipse is called as a total lunar eclipse since the earth blocks the sun completely.

The eclipse will be visible in North and South America, Asia as well as parts of Australia. In India, the eclipse will be visible and will best be visible in the places where the moon rises early. The eclipse will be in various phases and will begin at 2.30 pm and end at 8.31 pm. The umbral phase will be between 3.45 pm and 7:15 pm. The total phase will be between 5:24 pm and 5:37 pm. The duration of the totality is pretty low only about 4 minutes and 43 seconds.

This lunar eclipse is the third in a series of four lunar eclipses, also known as the tetrad. The first two have already occurred on April 15, 2014 and October 8, 2014. The third eclipse will occur on Saturday followed by the fourth on September 28, 2015. All the 4 parts of the ‘tetrad’ series appear roughly within a span of 6 months.

The 21^st century will witness 8 such tetrads, which is the maximum number of tetrads that can occur in one century. This last took place in the 9^th century. The next lunar tetrad series will begin 17 years later on April 25, 2032. The year 2015 has only 4 eclipses which is the minimum number of eclipses any calendar year will have.

The sunlight passes through the earth's atmosphere, filtering out most of the blue light of the moon, giving it a reddish shade. Thus, it has also been called as the blood moon. There is a possibility of rain and showers in Delhi and the national capital is expected to have a cloudy weather. However, the eclipse will still be visible to Delhiites.