Shortest total lunar eclipse of the century on Saturday
April 3, 2015 12:02 pm
There will be a lunar eclipse on April 4th visible to Sri Lanka with the moon rising from the eastern horizon around 6.18 p.m. and till 7.15 p.m.
The eclipse begins at 2.31 p.m. Sri Lanka Standard Time and will end up at 8.29 p.m. Since this occurs mostly during day time for Sri Lanka only the latter part of this eclipse is visible to us as a partial lunar eclipse.
After 7.15 p.m. with the moon entering into the penumbra - the less dark shadow of the Earth, no eclipse would visible except little dimming of the moon light, said Prof. Chandana Jayaratne.
The eclipse ends up at 8.29 p.m. with the moon leaving the penumbral part of the eclipse, said Prof. Jayaratne of the Department of Physics, University of Colombo. The entire total eclipse is visible to the people in part of North America, New Zealand and Australia and eastern Asia.
Being the totality of the eclipse less than 5 minutes, this eclipse is said to be the shortest total lunar eclipse of the 21st century said Prof. Jayaratne.
