Total lunar eclipse on 31st

Islamabad: Like other parts of the world, a total lunar eclipse will take place in Pakistan at the end of the current month. This kind of eclipse is also known as blood moon as the moon turns a reddish or copper colour when it passes through Earth's shadow.

According to director Abdul Rashid of the Climate Data Processing Centre at the Pakistan Meteorological Department, the total eclipse of moon will be visible in large parts of the US, north-eastern Europe, Russia, Asia, the Indian Ocean, the Pacific, and Australia next Wednesday (January 31).

In Pakistan, it will be visible at moon rise time. The weatherman said the penumbral lunar eclipse would begin in Pakistan at 15:51 PST, partial eclipse at 16:48 PST and total eclipse at 17:52 PST, while the 'greatest' eclipse would take place at 18:31 PST.

He added that the total eclipse would end at 19:08 PST, partial eclipse at 20:11 PST and penumbral eclipse at 21:08 PST. The PMD director also said the eclipse would have a penumbra magnitude of 2.2941 and umbral magnitude of 1.3155.