3 celestial events from July 20

STAFF REPORTER

GUWAHATI, July 17: Guwahati Planetarium is preparing to give the sky watchers an experience of three astronomical events – total lunar eclipse, Mars opposition and Mars’ close approach to Earth from July 20 to August 7. According to an official source, the lunar eclipse will start at 11:54 pm on July 27. The source said, “The total lunar eclipse will occur at 1:00 am and it will last till 2:44 am on July 28, 2018 – total 1 hour 44 minutes. The eclipse will be completely over at 3:49 am.” It is expected to be the longest blood moon witnessed in 100 years.

The moon will be visible in a scarlet red hue for over 1 hour and 44 minutes, which is 40 per cent longer than any other blood moon measured in recent times. The opposition of Mars will also occur on the same day, July 27, 2018. Opposition of Mars occurs when the Earth passes between the Sun and the Mars. On the other hand, Mars will approach closest to Earth on July 31, 2018. It may be mentioned that Mars came closer to Earth than in the previous 60,000 years in 2003.