Total lunar eclipse to fall on the 15th of June, 2011

A total lunar eclipse is on its way and people from different parts of the world will be able to witness it on the night of 15th June, 2011

Lunar and solar eclipses are astronomical events which awe and inspire people all around the world. These events are followed throughout the world and people begin preparing to see them, long before they occur. This time a total lunar eclipse is expected to take place on June, 15, 2011. This month’s full moon will pass almost directly through the center of the Earth’s shadow, resulting in a total lunar eclipse. This year's eclipse is, howeverm going to be exceptionally long spanning around a 100 minutes.

The lunar eclipse will not be visible from North America due to its timings, as in that part of the world, it will be daytime. However, the eastern hemisphere of the earth will be facing the moon during the eclipse, which means that countries which lie there, will be able to witness the event. The island nation of Madagascar will have a ringside seat for this event, which would afford Madagascar the best view of the eclipse.

The total lunar eclipse will be best visible from Russia’s Sakhalin Island, Central Siberia, eastern Mongolia, northeast China, Japan, Korea, New Guinea, eastern Australia, New Zealand and parts of India. It will be best visible on the early hours of Thursday morning in the above-mentioned areas.

On the other side of the world, some parts of South America, Western Europe and the west coast of Africa will see parts of the total lunar eclipse as the moon will be emerging there on Wednesday evening.

When the moon will enter its total eclipse, it will become 10,000 to 100,000 times dimmer and will almost seem three-dimensional. Due to this the sky will also seem darker, and we will be able to see other stars brighten up. The star clouds of the Milky Way will brighten up providing a spectacular view which will be visible with the help of binoculars.

According to Phillip S. Harrington, who has written the book ‘Eclipse’: "The best place to see the event will be in central Asia. There, as well as in eastern Europe and northeastern Africa, observers will see the moon occult the cluster in a comparatively dark sky."

The next total lunar eclipse after this one, will be taking place on April, 15, 2014.