Blood Moon, also known as ‘purna chandra grahan’ in Hindi, will appear today. Blood Moon is the phenomenon when Earth’s moon appears red in colour in a total lunar eclipse. The eclipse takes place just a few hours after the Moon reaches the closest point to Earth in its orbit.

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This will be the first and last Blood Moon of 2021. While skywatchers will be able to see it in many parts of the world, it is expected to be visible as a penumbral lunar eclipse for five minutes in India.

Blood Moon 2021 timings:

According to NASA, the total lunar eclipse will last for three hours and seven minutes, however, the total eclipse will appear for 14 minutes and 30 seconds. 

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The eclipse will begin at 8.47 am UTC (2.17 pm IST). The full eclipse will be visible at 11.11 am UTC (4.41 pm IST). It will be maximum at 11.18 pm UTC (4.48 pm IST) and will continue to be at its total state until 11.25 am UTC (4.55 pm IST). The eclipse will conclude at 1.49 pm UTC (7.19 am IST).

Regions where Blood Moon will be visible:

The lunar eclipse will be visible in regions of South/ East Asia, Australia, North America, South America, Pacific, Atlantic, Indian Ocean and Antarctica, Norwegian website Time and Date reported.

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The cities that will witness the total lunar eclipse are Honolulu, Houston, Los Angeles, Manila, Melbourne, San Francisco, Seoul, Shanghai and Tokyo. The partial eclipse will appear in Bangkok, Chicago, Dhaka, Montreal, New York, Toronto and Yangon.

Blood Moon 2021 in India:

The Blood Moon will be visible in India as a penumbral lunar eclipse, which happens when Earth blocks some of the Sun’s light from reaching the Moon’s surface, covering it only with the outer part of the shadow (penumbra). The shade of red is minimal at this position.

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The next total lunar eclipse will be seen on May 16, 2022.