'Super Blue Blood Moon' lights up night skies in Pakistan

The world is witnessing a rare and a spectacular view after a gap of 152 years

ISLAMABAD: The world is witnessing a rare and a spectacular view of 'Super Blue Blood Moon' on Wednesday, after a gap of 152 years.

Talking to PTV News, chief Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) Dr Ghulam Rasul had said this would be a historical moment because it was a coincidence when blue moon, red moon and full lunar eclipse will take place at the same time and on the same date and this moon was last time seen in 1866.

"The moon can be seen from anywhere in Pakistan, depending on the weather conditions," he added.



The climax of lunar eclipse in Pakistan will be at 18:31 Pakistan Time (PST), Dr Rasul said and added it will be visible at the moonrise in the country.

"It is estimated that that the moon will be 34% brighter and 14% bigger than its usual size and light," he maintained.

Meanwhile, according to the Climate Data Processing Centre at PMD, the penumbral eclipse began at 15:51 PST, while the partial eclipse started at 16:48, followed by total eclipse at 17:52 and the greatest eclipse at 18:31 PST.

The total eclipse ended at 19:08PST, partial eclipse finished at 20:11 and the penumbral eclipse at 21:08PST.

Further, the penumbral magnitude will be at 2.2941 and Umbral magnitude at 1.3155.

The total phase of this lunar eclipse is known as a Blood Moon because of reddish-orange glow, but in some parts of the world, it will be seen as Blue Moon.

According to experts, the Blood Moon appears when the moon passes west to east through the earth's shadow.

This is the first blue moon eclipse in 2018, and that was the reason why many were calling it as 'Super Blue Blood Moon'.

The moon is also visible in large parts of US, northeastern Europe, Russia, Asia, the Indian Ocean, the Pacific and Australia.