ISLAMABAD: The world is going to witness a rare and a
spectacular view of ‘Super Blue Blood Moon’ on January 31, after a gap of 152
years.
“It is going to be a historical moment because it is a
coincidence when blue moon, red moon and full lunar eclipse will take place at
the same time and on the same date,” said chief Pakistan Meteorological
Department (PMD), Dr Ghulam Rasul told The Express Tribune on Saturday. “This
moon was last time seen in 1866,” he added.
“The moon can be seen from anywhere in Pakistan, depending
on the weather conditions.”
The climax of lunar eclipse in Pakistan will be at 18:31
Pakistan Time (PST), Dr Rasul said and added it will be visible at the
moon-rise in the country.
“It is estimated that that the moon will be 34% brighter and
14% bigger than its usual size and light,” he maintained.
Meanwhile, according to the Climate Data Processing Centre
at PMD, the penumbral eclipse will begin at 15:51 PST, partial eclipse at
16:48, followed by total eclipse at 17:52 and the greatest eclipse at 18:31
PST.
The total eclipse will end at 19:08PST, partial eclipse at
20:11 and the penumbral eclipse at 21:08PST. Further, the penumbral magnitude
will be at 2.2941 and Umbral magnitude at 1.3155.
The total phase of this lunar eclipse is known as a Blood
Moon because of reddish-orange glow, but in some parts of the world, it will be
seen as Blue Moon.
According to experts, the Blood Moon appears when the moon
passes west to east through the earth’s shadow.
The moon will appear as super-moon, with the perigee being on January
30. Moreover, it is going to be the first blue moon eclipse in 2018, and this
is why many are calling it as ‘Super Blue Blood Moon’.
The moon will be visible in large parts of US, northeastern
Europe, Russia, Asia, the Indian Ocean, the Pacific and Australia.