Published: 10:02 AM, 08 August 2017 Last Update: 11:39 AM, 08 August 2017
Partial lunar eclipse last night
The partial lunar eclipse took place on 7 August 2017. The moon was seen last night in many parts of the world including Bangladesh during a partial lunar eclipse.
The spectacular sight was best-viewed in the Indian Subcontinent where it glowed over buildings for hours. But striking images were also captured in locations as diverse as Poland, Indonesia and Spain.
The moon passed through the Earth's shadow exactly two weeks ahead of the highly anticipated solar eclipse on August 21.
Sunlight was refracted in the Earth's atmosphere, giving the moon a striking dull red or copper colour.
A lunar eclipse happens when the moon passes behind the Earth and into its shadow, leaving the sun, Earth and moon in alignment.
During a total lunar eclipse, the Moon is still visible and can appear to be orange or red - giving it the nickname "blood moon".
That's because the Earth's atmosphere refracts sunlight that indirectly illuminates the Moon's surface.
Lunar eclipses last much longer than solar eclipses, because the Earth casts a very large shadow relative to the smaller Moon and can be seen from anywhere on the night side of the Earth.
Starting from 10.52pm, the full moon will enter the Earth’s shadow in space and create a spectacular celestial phenomenon, which is commonly known as partial lunar eclipse. This was the first properly visible lunar eclipse this year.
A lunar eclipse takes place only at full moon. When the sun, earth and moon come in a perfect straight line and as the Sun’s rays falls on the Earth and its (Earth’s) shadow falls onto a patch of space and the moon enters that patch a lunar eclipse is seen.
The next lunar eclipse will be on January 31, 2018, and it will be total. It will also be visible from all parts of the Indian sub-continent.
