Media Release
Udupi, May 25: The full moon of May, also called the Flower Moon will be visible on May 26. This full moon is a special full moon as this is the closest supermoon of the year and will also be eclipsed by the earth causing it to appear blood red in some regions.
The moon goes around the earth in an elliptical path. Imagine a circle but a little stretched. The earth is located at a point near the center. This makes the moon orbit the earth in such a way that it comes close to the earth and moves away from us in this orbit, as seen from earth.
On average, the moon is 384400 km away from us. When at Perigee (the closest point to earth), it will be around 356500 km away from us. When the moon is at this Perigee in its full moon phase, we call it a 'Supermoon'. The converse is also applicable, that when the full moon is at Apogee (the farthest point from earth) we call it a 'Micro-moon'.
Depending on its distance, a supermoon is 7% bigger than an average full moon and 13% bigger than a micro-moon. This year on May 26 the moon will come as close as 357313 km and will be 357393 km when it reaches full phase at 2.13 pm and will remain in the full moon phase till 7.15 pm. This will be the closest supermoon for 2021.
As the moon passes behind the earth every month, it escapes the earth’s shadow because of the 5o tilt in the moon’s orbit. However, at certain points in a year, the full moon passes from the earth’s shadow which causes the lunar eclipse.
The May supermoon will pass through the earth’s proper shadow, the umbra, and will be devoid of the sun’s light reflecting off its surface for 11 minutes. At this moment, the light from the sun, passing off the edge of the earth, falls on the moon. The sunlight passes through the parts of the earth that are in the twilight. The orange-colored sunlight that illuminates the earth’s skies during these times, falls upon the moon giving it a red hue. This causes the moon to appear red.
The moon turns red every time it passes through the earth’s proper shadow (the Umbra) and we call it the red-blood moon.
Due to the angle and the timing, this lunar eclipse will only be visible for the entire duration in the Oceania region of the globe and the parts of the eclipse will be visible in countries like Japan, Indonesia and China. In India, the eclipse is said to appear penumbral from the northeastern states. However, the very faint penumbral shadow and the timings practically make it impossible to see the eclipse from our country.
Although we cannot see the eclipse, we can however enjoy the Super-Flower Moon and see the Lunar Mares and craters facing us, on this full moon. PAAC wishes everyone clear skies to enjoy the beauty of the closest full moon for the year 2021.
The eclipse begins at 2.17 pm
Total eclipse is from 4.41 pm
Maximum eclipse is at 4.48 pm
Total eclipse ends at 4.55 pm
Eclipse ends at 7.19 pm