LUNAR ECLIPSE ON 31ST JANUARY 2018

what is Lunar Eclipse

Lunar eclipse occurs when Sun,Earth and Moon are in line with each other perfectly. Earth occupies the middle in this position earth blocks the sun rays and the shadow covers the Moon.hence Earth shadow blocks  the Sun light which would have reflects off the Moon.

How Eclipse  happens in Full Moon and rarely too.

The Moon takes 27.3 days to complete its orbit around Earth.When Moon  orbits around Earth  it illuminated by Sun and this aillumination varies depending on Sun's angle.At New Moon Moon is placed between Earth and Sun , so the Moon shows the side that doesn't reflects any Sun light and thus it  looks dark.A few days after as Moon progresses around earth it gradually began to  reflect  the Sun light and this face is called Waxing Moon.A week later Moon gets 90° away from the Sun and shows half illuminated from our earth's view .This phase is called first quarter.As days progresses the illuminated part  also gets wider and this phase is called waxing gibbous Moon .when Moon has progressed 180° then Sun,Earth and Moon are inline together and Moon's disc is in a perfectly close  position for being illuminated by Sunlight.So this is called Full Moon .Again Moon moves and when it reaches a position in which it appears to be illuminating more than half of its disc ,but in contrary to waxing phase it is  decreasing in amount.hence it is called Waning Gibbous phase .Some Days later when Moon completes another quarter of its orbit ,Now almost half of Moon's disc is illuminated by Sunlight.This is the Third quarter phase.when Moon moves again in its path it reaches the Waning- crescent phase in which less than half of it's face appears  shining  and it is decreasing too.Finally Moon moves back to its starting phase New moon position.As both these planet's orbit around the Sun is different and they rarely get  aligned perfectly.The Moon travels  above or below the Sun from our view ,but when occasionally it moves  right in front of the Sun and thus the Eclipse occurs.

Lunar Eclipse  does not occur every full moon because Moon's orbit is inclined to Earth's orbit by about 5 degrees.Moon converges Earth's orbit twice a month and the this points are known nodes.When Moon moves from south to north in its orbit it is ascending node and descending node if Moon moves from north to south.When Full Moon comes considerably close to one of these  nodes then Lunar Eclipse Happens.

Earth directs tow kinds of shadows upon Moon during the Lunar eclipse .Umbra the complete dark shadow and Penumbra is the partial outer shadow.

The eclipse can be divided in to many stages depending upon the contact points.

• First stage: This is the beginning stage, Penumbral Part of Earth's shadow touches Moon's outer limb.
• Second stage: Beginning of the partial eclipse,Earth's Umbra touches Moons outer limb.
• Third stage:Beginning of total eclipse,Moon is completely covered by Earth's umbra.
• Forth stage: peak stage of the eclipse ,Moon is as close as possible to Earth's center of umbra.
• Fifth stage: End of total eclipse.The Moon's outer limb moves out of umbra.
• Sixth stage:End of partial eclipse.Earth's umbra leaves Moon's surface.
• Seventh stage: This is the end of penumbral eclipse.The Earth's shadow is completely out of Moon's surface. 

 Types of Lunar Eclipse

 Total Lunar Eclipse

This occurs when Earth's umbra shadow completely falls on Moon,but the moon wont completely disappear.Sunlight passing through earth's atmosphere is scattered and focused on Moon and it appears as dimly  glowing. about 30% of eclipse are of this kind.

partial Lunar eclipse

This occurs when Sun,Earth and Moon are not perfectly aligned and a portion of moon passes through Earth's umbra.Some times it is visible to our eyes depending on planets alignment.

Penumbral Lunar eclipse

Penumbral eclipse happens when Moon is in earth's outer shadow(penumbra).it is not easily visible and you need a telescope to detect this kind of eclipse.

Total Lunar Eclipse on 2018 January 31st.

A Total Lunar Eclipse will occur on January 31st ,2018.This will also be the first Supermoon of the year,as full moon coincides with it's Perigee. The Moon will Pass from west to east through the earth's shadow.The total phase of this lunar eclipse will be visible to North America ,Europe,East of Russia,siberia ,Japan, East china,Korea,New zealand and Australia.

Timings

                                              UTC    EST    CST      IST          PST           

Penumbral Eclipse begins:  10:51    5:51    4:51       -----         2:51
Partial Eclipse begins       :  11:48    6:48    5:48      17:18       3:48
Total Eclipse begins         :  12:52     -----    6:52      18:22       4:52
Peak Eclipse                     :  13:30     ---      -----       19:00       5:30
Total Eclipse  ends           :   14:08    ----     -----       19:38       6:08
Partial eclipse ends           :   15:11    ----    -----        20:41      7:11 
penumbral eclipse ends    :   16:08    ---      -----        21:38      -----


Hindu view 

According to Vedic astrology and Hindu mythology the rays from eclipse is considered as bad omen.Special prayers  and bathing in holy rivers are performed during eclipse. Observing fast and chanting mantra's are advised as a remedy to weaken the harm effects of eclipse.The Hindu Purana associates eclipses to  a Legend.It says that,when the ocean churning occured a demon tried to drink the elixir through deceitful method,by god's grace Sun and Moon realised  him  and informed Vishnu.Vishnu then cut off his head  . How ever, since some drops of elixir fall on his body the demon just got survived.The head is known as Rahu and the body ketu.Rahu Ketu take revenge on Sun and Moon by overshadowing them during eclipse.

Effects of zodiac signs.

Eclipse will occur on 31st January 2018 .As per IST lunar eclipse begins at 5:18 pm  and will end at 8:43pm.It will occur in Cancer sign pushya star .Scriptures suggest certain recompenses during this period ,also prohibits from doing certain acts.

Aries,gemini,cancer,leo,scorpio,sagittarius,capricorn and pisces moon sign natives , along with pushya,anuradha and Uttara bhadrapada stars will have to bare some malefic effects of eclipse.



 Aries will suffer health issues and cancerian might face  emotional churning.Leos may loss sleep and loss something.scorpios must keep away from immoral activities and evil persons.Sagittarius will prone to accidents and danger.Capricorn may lack harmony in marital relation.Pisces may suffer mental issues and stress.

Taurus,Gemini,Libra and Aquarius signs will have beneficial effects,happiness in family,unexpected financial gains and fortunes can be predicted.

Remedies
 

Observing  fast is ritual suggested by scriptures ,if you can fast whole day at least refrain from eating food during eclipse.Chanting auspicious mantras shall pacify the ill effects of eclipse.