Buddha Purnima, Super Moon, Lunar Eclipse  and a Blood Red Moon - 26th May 2021, View from Mumbai. 

Today - 26th May, 2021, is an auspicious occasion for all of us, since it happens to be the birth anniversary of Bhagwan Gautam Buddha. I take this opportunity to wish all my friends a very happy Buddha Purnima. This auspicious occasion of Buddha Purnima, as the very name suggests, falls on ‘Purnima’ or a full moon day and this year this Purnima is quite special. Today besides being a Purnima or a full moon it also happens to be the day when our Earths satellite - the moon, is at its closest distance to the earth and that is why this Purnima is also referred to as the Super Moon. Incidentally in some parts of the globe, we will also witness a total lunar eclipse today and that makes this day even more special, particularly for those sky watchers who will be in the path of the total lunar eclipse, since it will provide an outstanding celestial spectacle to watch and enjoy. Keeping in mind our commitment to you all our esteemed visitors, the Nehru Science Centre used this opportunity to live webcast - through our Facebook live programme, today’s Super-moon as seen from the terrace of the Nehru Science Centre, building. Despite the lockdown and so also this day being a holiday, four of our staff members including the Director reached the office in the evening and made arrangements for the telescope and other arrangements for webcasting the event live. Most unfortunately today was a bad day for the sky observation in Mumbai. The unending clouds that populated the eastern sky of Mumbai were relentless in ensuring the bright moon was completely covered under the darkness of the thick and unending movement of the sky. Fortunately, there were some moments when the clouds made way and we could some how manage to show our audience a glimpse of the Super Moon. 

We also managed to capture some good images of the Super Moon today, which is also referred to as the Flower Moon and Red Blood Moon. These images are shared here for your perusal. 

In the current times of the Covid pandemic, there is almost zero attention span - with dime a dozen TV channels and social media beaming non stop Covid content 24x7, seven days a week - for any other news other than the Covid, which is now in its second wave in India. The Covid fear and so also the unending fear mongering news about this pandemic, is not coming down any time soon. In fact even the Yaas cyclone, which made a land fall on the coast of Orissa with devastating effect - with huge loss of property and some lives, will soon be forgotten to the Covid fear. Under these circumstances I am not sure how many people will even know that today an extraordinary celestial spectacle got played out in the sky. The Full Moon that showed up today is also called as the Flower Moon. This name comes from the Native American names for full moons, the almanac of which was first published in the 1930s. According to the Maine Farmer's Almanac, the full moon that occurs in month of May is referred to as the Flower Moon, because of the spring season and the abundance of the flowers, that bloom during this season. There are also other names, which are given to the full moon that occurs in the month of May namely ; Full Corn Planting Moon as well as the Milk Moon. 

The Flower Moon or the Super Full Moon, which was witnessed today also was accompanied by the total,lunar eclipse. The Lunar eclipse, however was visible only in the region covering some parts of South America, North America, parts of Asia - Far East Asia, Australia, Antarctica, the Pacific Ocean and the Indian Ocean. For all those who are in the path of the total lunar eclipse ( not for major part of India) the moon will have appeared slightly reddish orange in colour particularly during the eclipse time and therefore this moon is also called as the Red Blood Moon. In India, however, most parts of the country could not witness the total lunar eclipse since the eclipse occurred during the day time. The partial phase of the lunar eclipse in India began at 3.15 pm and ended at 6.23 pm, while the total phase began at 4.39 pm and ended at 4.58 pm. Some parts of the North East may be have managed to witness partial eclipse at the horizon, just after the sun set subject to the condition that the sky was clear.

The Lunar eclipse is one of those regular celestial spectacle, which happens because of a natural phenomenon of the ever changing positions of the Blue Planet Earth, Moon (that we have all romantcised, specially our Bollywood with scores of romantic songs composed on the moon) and our life giving Sun. The rotation, revolution and movement of these three celestial bodies resulted in the Super Moon today - 26th May, 2021, which was seen across many parts of the world including India and our amchi Mumbai. In some areas - as stated above, people must have witnessed the super-moon, a total lunar eclipse and a Red Blood moon. This moon, which was seen today, is also called the Flower moon in America. The accompanying photos to this article are the images of the moon, which I have taken today and in one or two images you will see the dark clouds which are trying to cover the moon. Today the Mumbai Sky was very cloudy and the moon and clouds were constantly playing hide and seek and whenever the moon came out of the clouds we managed to show it live to our audience. The images that accompany this article are taken from my mobile camera from the terrace of the Nehru Science Centre, Mumbai. 

The most lucky sky watchers who fell in the path of totality of the moon and  where there were no clouds to eclipse the moon are lucky and they will have seen the Red Blood moon, Lunar eclipse and the Super moon, all in one package. The Red Blood moon, refers to the reddish or copper tint that the moon will be painted with. This happens when the moon passes through the Earth's shadow during the eclipse. When the Moon is completely covered by Earth’s shadow the moon will darkened but it doesn’t go completely black. Instead, the moon takes on a red color, which is why total lunar eclipses are sometimes called red or blood moons. As known to all of us, the Sunlight contains all colors of visible light - VIBGYOR, that we see in the rainbows. The particles of gas that make up Earth’s atmosphere are more likely to scatter blue wavelengths of light, while the Red wavelengths pass through. This is called Rayleigh scattering, and this is the reason why the sky is blue and sunrises and sunsets are often red. In the case of a lunar eclipse, red light can pass through the Earth’s atmosphere and is refracted – or bent – toward the Moon, while blue light is filtered out. This leaves the moon with a pale reddish hue during an eclipse and that is why the moon is appears Reddish and hence it is called the Blood Moon.

The Lunar eclipse occurs when the Sun, the Earth and the Moon are so aligned that for a period of time, the full Moon passes through the shadow of Earth in space - Earth’s Umbra. Moon, the only natural satellite of our planet Earth, orbits around the Earth in an elliptical orbit and therefore the Moon sometimes comes closest to our Earth and at times remains farthest from the Earth. The closest point when the Moon comes towards the Earth is called the perigee, while the furthest point that the moon remains away from Earth is called the apogee. When a full moon falls on the perigee, the moon appears far bigger and brighter in the sky in comparison with other full Moons and therefore such a full moon is called as a ‘supermoon’. This phenomenon is not actually that rare as made out to be by the media. Just last month we had another Super Moon, which was called the Super Pink Moon. However the Super Moon that we witnessed today was slightly bigger than the Super Pink Moon , which we witnessed last month, since the perigee distance of todays moon was much more closer than last months moon. 

Super moon is a term that has only taken off in the past ten years. Back in March 2011, NASA published an article describing a “ a super full moon”. The precise time of Full Moon that month occurred 59 minutes before perigee, that is, the Moon’s closest approach to Earth as it travels along its elliptical orbit - a near perfect coincidence that happens only every 18 years or so. This must have seemed a worthwhile curiosity to report in 2011. However even today, ten years later, the Super Moon craze is yet to die down. For the records the so called Super Moon that we witnessed today is definitely not on the scale of Super moon that NASA reported in 2011.

Incidentally this year - 2021, people will be able to witness two lunar eclipses. The first eclipse - Chandra graham, occurred  today - May 26, 2021, while the second will take place on November 19, 2021. Today’s total lunar eclipse or blood moon was partially visible from eastern Asia, Australia, the Pacific Ocean, and much of the Americas. To witness a lunar eclipse, one has to be on the night side of the Earth, while the Moon passes through the shadow of the Earth, The best place to see todays eclipse was the middle of the Pacific Ocean, Australia, the East Coast of Asia and the West Coast of the Americas. For most people in India, todays moon was below the eastern horizon during the total lunar eclipse time and therefore we were not be able to view the total lunar eclipse and thus the blood Moon.

Once again wishing you all a very happy Buddha Purnima.Stay Safe Stay Home.