2026 is a special year for astronomy enthusiasts and the general public around the world

By :- Amal Udawatta

This total lunar eclipse will be clearly visible from the Pacific Ocean, Australia, and western North America. The sky will be pitch black when the eclipse is complete, and the bright red moon against that dark background will be a stunning sight to the naked eye.

On March 3, 2026, the Earth, the Sun, and the Moon will line up to form a "Total lunar eclipse." Unlike previous total lunar eclipses, the moon will appear dark red or copper instead of black. The phenomenon that causes this is called Rayleigh Scattering. This is when the Earth's atmosphere scatters the blue light from the sun, scattering only the red light back onto the moon. This process causes the moon to appear bright red, hence the name Blood Moon.

The total lunar eclipse on April 3 will have a Saros number of 133. The penumbra will have a magnitude of 2.369, and the umbra will have a magnitude of 1.368. This lunar eclipse will be visible in all three forms: total, partial, and penumbral. The duration of the total lunar eclipse will be 58 minutes and 19 seconds, while the duration of the partial lunar eclipse will be 207 minutes and 10 seconds. The duration of the penumbral lunar eclipse will be 338 minutes and 37 seconds. Although Sri Lanka will not be able to directly see the totality of this eclipse, the final part of the eclipse will be visible above the horizon for a short time at moonrise that day (after 6:15 PM).

Therefore, the night of March 3, 2026, is a special day for astronomy enthusiasts and the general public around the world to witness a magnificent spectacle of nature. Since the moon will rise in Sri Lanka after the eclipse begins, it will be visible from the penumbral eclipse's last limit until its end. The number U4 on the map indicates the region of the penumbral eclipse visible to Sri Lanka. It will occur on March 3, 2026, at 17:03:40 +0530 local time.

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