Udupi: Total Lunar Eclipse - Hundreds Gather to Watch Celestial Spectacle
Pics: Hemanath Padubidri (Udupi) / Dayanand Kukkaje (Mangalore)
Daijiworld Media Network - Udupi
Udupi, Dec 10: Large crowds thronged Poornaprajna College here on Saturday December 10 to view the last and the longest total lunar eclipse of the year.
Arrangements were made by the Poornaprajna amateur astronomers club in collaboration with Sky Telescope Mumbai for both students and other enthusiasts to watch the spectatacle from 6 pm to 9.30 pm.
Total lunar eclipse in Mangalore
In Udupi
The eclipse started at 6.15 pm and lasted till around 9.50 pm. The total eclipse occured between 7.36 pm and 8.27 pm
Hundreds of people gathered at the spot and enjoyed the view. Telescopes were set up for the purpose.
No worship was done at the temples, however, devotees at Anantheshwara Temple here offered oil as a mark of penance.
A lunar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes behind the Earth so that the Earth blocks the Sun's rays from striking the Moon. This can occur only when the Sun, Earth, and Moon are aligned exactly, or very closely so, with the Earth in the middle.