BENGALURU: With three lunar events taking place all on the same day on January 31, the Breakthrough Science Society (BSS), an organisation that promotes scientific temper and education, has arranged for public sightings at several places in the city.
Also termed as the ‘lunar trilogy’, the day will witness a lunar eclipse, a super moon and blue moon on the same day. The last time such a phenomenon took place was 15 years ago, so it cannot be emphasised enough how rare the event is.
“BSS will be organising a public viewing at Malleshwaram, Rajajinagar, Basavanagudi, Yeshwanthpur, Basaweshwanagar, Kengeri Satellite Town,” says Rajini K S of BSS. Other places are also being finalised says an official communique from the organisation. For details with regards to the exact location and other instructions contact 9972392736 or 9844437039.
The lunar eclipse will begin at 4.21pm. One will however be able to view the eclipse by 6.21pm during which there will be a total lunar eclipse that will end at 7.31pm. Partial eclipse will take place till 8.41pm.
At some of the designated places the viewing will be done through a telescope and live projectors, however people can also view the phenomenon with the naked eye as there is no scientific evidence of any harmful rays being emitted during the phenomena. For people who are not able to attend any of the sightings, BSS has asked them to find an open space and enjoy the spectacle using binoculars and simple telescopes.
While full moons occur once in every 29 days, a blue moon takes place when two full moons take place within the same month. A supermoon is a full moon or a new moon that coincides with the closest distance that the moon reaches to earth in its elliptic orbit, resulting in a slightly larger-than-usual apparent size of the lunar disk as seen from earth which means it is 14 percent bigger and 30 percent brighter than the regular moon.