A partial lunar eclipse is expected to take place on the night of October 28-29, 2023, coinciding with the 6th-7th day of Kartika in the year 1945 of the Saka Era. While the Moon will first enter the penumbral phase around midnight on October 28th, the umbral phase, which is the more prominent part of the eclipse, will commence in the early hours of October 29th. This celestial event will be visible from all regions of India during the midnight hours.
The lunar eclipse will also be observable in various parts of the world, including the Western Pacific Ocean, Australia, Asia, Europe, Africa, eastern South America, northeastern North America, the Atlantic Ocean, the Indian Ocean, and the South Pacific Ocean.
The umbral phase of the eclipse is scheduled to start at 01:05 AM Indian Standard Time (IST) on October 29th and conclude at 02:24 AM IST. The eclipse is projected to last for approximately 1 hour and 19 minutes, with a relatively small magnitude of 0.126.
For those in India, the next lunar eclipse that will be visible is anticipated to occur on September 7, 2025, and it will be a total lunar eclipse. The most recent lunar eclipse visible from India happened on November 8, 2022, and it was a total eclipse. Lunar eclipses take place when the Earth is positioned between the Sun and the Moon, causing the Earth’s shadow to fall on the Moon. A total lunar eclipse occurs when the entire Moon is immersed in the Earth’s umbral shadow, while a partial lunar eclipse occurs when only a portion of the Moon is in the Earth’s shadow.