Deep Red Blood Moon on July 27 to be the longest Lunar eclipse of the century

Come Friday and the world is set to behold a spectacle of the rarest of rare variety—the longest solar eclipse of the 21st century. On July 27, the earth, moon and sun will come to align in a perfect line, which will cause the phenomenon. The moon will pass through the centre of the Earth’s shadow, giving rise to what is known as the Deep Red Blood Moon.

During a total lunar eclipse, the Moon's disk can turn bright orange, blood red (hence the term ‘Blood Moon’) or even very dark gray, depending upon the part of the Earth's shadow it is passing through. “This time, the moon would pass right through the centre of the earth's shadow which makes it the first central lunar eclipse after the one in June 2011,” said B G Sidharth, Director of BM Birla Science Centre in Hyderabad, reported news agency PTI.

The statement further said that "It is occurring at a time when the moon is at its farthest distance from the earth and so it will be the longest total lunar eclipse in this century. The totality itself will last for an hour and 43 minutes.”