Hyderabad: After recently getting great views of the partial solar eclipse on October 25, the city will be able to view a partial lunar eclipse on the afternoon of November 7.
According to Director of Planetary Society Raghunandan Kumar, the eclipse becomes visible with the umbral phase or darkening of the moon disk at 2.39 pm and will last until 6.19 pm.
However, the moon rises over Hyderabad at 5.40 pm and aficionados will be able to view it from 5.40 pm to 6.19 pm. “We are late for the party,” Raghunandan Kumar said.
Only the eastern and northeastern parts of the country, and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, will witness the total eclipse, or the ‘ending of totality phase’, when the entire disk of the moon will be covered by the shadow of the earth.
Due to the eclipse, a section of people follow rituals such as not drinking water or eating during the eclipse, say special prayers and take a bath post the eclipse. Many temples will also be shut during the eclipse, as is the norm.
Chilkur Balaji temple priest Dr Rangarajan said the temple closure timings would be announced in a day or two but usually, the temple would be shut for eight hours before as well as after the eclipse.
