Being described as one of the ‘darkest’ eclipses, this is the first lunar eclipse to have occurred this year, and one of the two in the world’s 2011 calendar, says Nasa. For astronomy enthusiasts, tonight’s sky will certainly be a treat as they and million others across the eastern hemisphere will witness the longest lunar eclipse in 11 years.

The eclipse will begin at 11:23pm on Wednesday and end at around 3.02am on Thursday, according to the Pakistan Space and Upper Atmosphere Research Commission (Suparco).


The total eclipse is expected to last 100 minutes, starting at around 12:22am.

According to Nasa, the last longest total lunar eclipse occurred in 2000 and lasted 107 minutes. Tonight’s lunar eclipse will be seen across Europe, Asia, the Middle East, Africa and Australia.

Fortunately for space aficionados, the lunar eclipse will not give off any harmful radiations, said astronomy expert Dr Mohammad Shahid Qureshi.

“It means that they will be able to view the phenomenon without reserve, unlike a solar eclipse.”

A total lunar eclipse occurs when the earth passes between the moon and the sun forming more-or-less a straight line. Viewers will then watch the moon beginning to take a reddish hue and eventually turning deep red, before it will return to its normal silver white shade.

The umbral and the penumbral are two types of lunar eclipse, depending on the shadows of the earth — the umbra and the penumbra.

In mathematical and scientific terminology, a lunar eclipse begins when the moon enters a part of earth’s umbra, and a total lunar eclipse is witnessed when the moon travels completely into the umbra. When the moon passes through the penumbral shadow of the planet, it simply causes subtle darkness on the moon.

“To put it from another perspective, if we are watching the sun from the surface of the moon, for example, and the moon is in the umbral shadow of the earth, we will witness a solar eclipse,” Dr Qureshi explains.

“Similarly, if the moon is in the penumbral shadow, the sun will be partially seen, and we will witness a partial solar eclipse,” he said.

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