RARE LUNAR ECLIPSE OF JUNE 15

Last evening around 7.30pm, I couldn't help admiring the bright full moon absolutely luminous and in a while, the eclipse started to take place. It was a beautiful view. I took some pictures, but the clarity of course is not good. But something to share with you on my blog of this exciting experience. There were people and children gathered in different places looking up into the sky with their telescopes enjoying the view. The moon changed colour from a bright white to grey and then a dull orange shade. The eclipse is reported to have lasted for 101 minutes (1 hour, 41 minutes).

The total lunar eclipse that took place yesterday on June 15 is the first of two such eclipses in 2011, the second will occur on December 10, 2011. This is believed to be rare central lunar eclipse where the center point of Earth's shadow passes across the Moon. The last time a lunar eclipse was closer to the center of the earth's shadow was on July 16, 2000. The next central total lunar eclipse will be on July 27, 2018.

Here are some pictures I took yesterday of the Moon and the eclipse:

An eclipse of the moon is perfectly safe to watch with the naked eye; you're only looking at the Moon, at night, which is quite safe. A solar eclipse without eye wear protection, is potentially dangerous, because viewing a solar eclipse involves looking at the Sun, which can damage your eyesight. 

The following images of the June 15 Lunar Eclipse are from the internet: 

Sequence photography of the total lunar eclipse 

Google modifying its homepage logo for the cosmic event. A live view of the moon, is shown  in  one of the letter O's in Google's  logo.

Via www.space.com - Image credit Derek Keats (skywatcher, Johannesburg, South Africa)