Lunar Eclipse 2021 This Month: Date, Timings and Place, Everything You Need To Know About The Celestial Event

In a week the world will bear witness to a cosmic phenomenon that last occurred on Jan 21st in 2019. The Lunar eclipse is expected to make its cosmic appearance on May 26th and unlike the solar eclipse, you will not have to pry yourself away or shield your eyes. Lunar Eclipse can be watched from anywhere across the world. The Lunar eclipse occurs when the moon moves into the Earth's shadow and blocks the sun's light. Total lunar eclipse renders the moons with a reddish hue hence it is also called the Blood Moon. According to NASA "The red colour comes from sunlight filtering through Earth's atmosphere – a ring of light created by all the sunrises and sunsets happening around our planet at that time." This is expected to be the last Blood Moon of 2021. Here's everything you need to know about this cosmic phenomenon. 

Time and Place

The Lunar Eclipse is said to last three hours and seven minutes but it will only be visible for fifteen minutes. NASA said that people from the Pacific Rim -western parts of the Americas, Australia and New Zealand, and Eastern Asia will have the best viewing seats in the house. While people in the U.S. will have a better view from Hawaii, Alaska, and the western states. However, it is expected to be only visible as a penumbral lunar eclipse in India and will be visible for only five minutes but it is expected to last for over five hours, according to NASA.

For those who cant wait for the celestial event, you're in luck since there will be a series of other cosmic phenomenons occurring until the run-up to the blood moon.

May 19th

According to NASA, Wednesday will signal the start of the eclipse as "Beginning Wednesday evening, the bright planet Venus will join Mercury above the horizon in the west-northwest as evening twilight ends." As the moon reaches its first quarter on Wednesday afternoon, it will seemingly appear half-full on Wednesday.

May 19th - May 20th

Between the 19th and 20th, the waxing half-full Moon will appear above the bright star Regulus, which is expected to brighten up your sky with stars.

May 23rd to May 24th

Between the night of May 23 to next morning on the 24th, NASA reports,  "The waxing gibbous Moon will appear to the left of the bright star Spica, initially about 7 degrees apart and separating through the night, with Spica setting first on Monday morning at around 3:52 a.m. EDT"

May 25th

On this day, we're that much closer to witnessing the LUNAR eclipse as the Moon will be at perigee, meaning,  its closest to the Earth for this orbit.

May 26th

The Lunar Eclipse will finally be visible for stargazers from across the world. On 26th, the Moon will pass through Earth's shadow over several hours.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on May 19, 2021 11:19 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).