Partial lunar eclipse on November 19, longest in nearly 600 years

A partial lunar eclipse occurs when the moon moves through the outer part of the earth’s shadow, blocking a part of the sunlight from reaching the moon and causing it to appear larger than normal.

A partial lunar eclipse will occur on November 19, which be the last this year, and will be visible in western Africa, western Europe, North America, South America, Asia, Australia, the Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific Ocean as well as some parts on India.

The partial lunar eclipse will also be visible in some parts of India, according to PIB.  (AP File Photo)

“A partial lunar eclipse is on the way, taking place overnight on November 18th and 19th, when the Moon slips into Earth's shadow for a couple of hours,” the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (Nasa) has said

The American space agency added that the eclipse will be visible from any location where the moon appears above the horizon during the eclipse weather permitting. It will occur earlier or later in the evening depending on the time zone, it also said.

“From India, just after moonrise, ending of partial phase of the eclipse will be visible for a very short span of time from extreme north eastern parts of Arunachal Pradesh and Assam,” according to Press Information Bureau (PIB) release.

The partial eclipse will start around 12:48pm Indian Standard Time (IST) and will end at 4:17pm IST, according to the PIB release. The last time such a long partial eclipse occurred was on February 18, 1440, and the next one will be seen on February 8, 2669, according to the EarthSky website.

Lunar eclipses occur on a full moon day when the earth comes in between the sun and the moon and when all the three are aligned. A total lunar eclipse occurs when the entire moon comes under the umbral shadow of the earth and a partial lunar eclipse takes place when only a part of the moon comes under our planet’s umbral shadow.