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People were on the roads or on their rooftops and terraces to watch the moon turn red – the longest celestial event of the 21st century that lasted about two hours.
In Delhi, some 2,000 astronomers were at the Nehru Planetarium to witness a total lunar eclipse. But they came back disappointed because the monsoon clouds spoiled the show with Delhi as many other parts of North India missing their rendezvous with the "blushing" bride – the moon which has become red.
The phenomenon is caused because the Earth blocks all the direct sunlight reaching the moon. But the indirect light of the sun is refracted by the earth's atmosphere. Only the refracted red light, with a longer wavelength, travels the distance and pbades to the moon and the other colors are filtered.
People in other parts of the country enjoyed the celestial event once in a century.
Hundreds of people flocked to the Jawaharlal Nehru Planetarium in the Bengaluru Technology Center on a cold Friday night to watch the show in a hazy sky as the red moon played hide and seek.
"About 3,000 visitors, including students accompanied by their parents, visited the planetarium between 11:54 and 3:48 to see the longest lunar eclipse through telescopes," said Jawaharlal Nehru Planetarium Director Pramod G. Galgali.
Dozens of skygazers lined up in the open area of the planetarium where 10 huge telescopes were set up to observe the eclipse from one point of view.
The thick clouds of the monsoon over the city, however, limited a clear vision of the eclipse, disappointing many photography enthusiasts.
"There was a clear sky for about 45 minutes during the eclipse when sky observers could see the phenomenon," said Galgali.
The eclipse began at 10:44. Friday night ending at 4:58 the small hours of Saturday. The period when the moon was completely in the shadow of the Earth, known as the "totality," lasted about an hour and 43 minutes.
In the town hall of the city, about two kilometers from the planetarium, a hundred men, including rationalists, lawyers, doctors, students and academics, gathered to celebrate this historical event.
Many, especially the Hindus, finished their dinner early at 8pm. Friday and ate nothing until the end of the eclipse. They took a bath before resuming their Saturday day to wash what they consider to be the perverse effects of the eclipse.
Many people across the country celebrated the celebrations by eating food and cutting cakes to prove that nothing would happen if we eat during the eclipse – mocking superstitious beliefs and blind beliefs of astrologers.
As many feared that the lunar eclipse was harmful, several temples were closed early Friday night.
Tens of thousands of worshipers invaded temples in many parts of the country after the Saturday morning eclipse to perform special rituals after cleaning the temple premises.
In the period leading up to the event, several pregnant women were strictly ordered by their families to stay indoors and because of the belief that the lunar eclipse is harmful to the fetus.
In Tamil Nadu, a large number of people saw the captivating lunar eclipse at B.M. Birla Planetarium who had made special arrangements with high power telescopes. In the case of some people, whose birth star has agreed with the eclipse, has executed special poojas in the temples to repel or negative adverse effects of the eclipse.
– IANS
fb-bha-vj / sar / vm
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