Stargazers to watch 'Blood Moon' rising tonight during Lunar Eclipse

The celestial spectacle of ‘Blood Moon’ can be witnessed in Pakistan tonight, Pakistan Meteorological Department said on Tuesday.

Lunar Eclipse, the first lunar eclipse of the year 2026, will be partially visible in Pakistan.

It will be visible from East in Europe, Asia, Australia, North America, South America, Pacific, Atlantic, Indian Ocean, Arctic, Antarctica. It will be partially visible at moonrise time in Pakistan.

Penumbral eclipse will begin at 13:44 Pakistan Standard Time (PST), while partial eclipse begins at 14:50 PST and total eclipse at 16:05 PST.

Maximum eclipse will begin at 16:34 PST, while the total eclipse will end
at 17:03 PST.

Partial lunar eclipse will end at 18:17 PST while penumbral eclipse ends at 19:23 PST.

Met Office said that the total lunar eclipse will be visible in Australia and Americas.

When the Sun, Earth and Moon line up, the shadow cast by the planet on its satellite makes it appear an eerie, deep red colour that has astounded humans for millennia.

The Moon appears red during lunar eclipses because the only sunlight reaching it is “reflected and scattered through the Earth’s atmosphere”, said Ryan Milligan, an astrophysicist at Northern Ireland’s Queen’s University Belfast.

Blue wavelengths of light are shorter than red ones, so are more easily dispersed as they travel through Earth’s atmosphere, he told AFP.

“That’s what gives the moon its red, bloody colour.”

A total lunar eclipse is a perfect alignment between Earth, the moon and sun. It is different from a partial lunar eclipse, which is an imperfect alignment between the three celestial bodies.

During a total lunar eclipse, the moon moves into the Earth’s inner shadow, which is known as the umbra. Some of the sunlight passing through Earth dimly lights the moon as a result.

Lunar eclipses occur at the full moon phase, according to the NASA.