First lunar eclipse on June 15

Hemanthi Guruge

Sri Lanka will experience its first lunar eclipse for this year on June 15 from 10.54 pm, Planetarium Head and Senior Lecturer Priyanka Koralagama said.

The total eclipse begins at 12.52 am on June 16 and the point of greatest eclipse occurs at 1.42 am.

The Moon could turn red in colour during a total lunar eclipse, she said. It will be one of the darkest eclipse in history and will be second only to the July 16, 2000 total lunar eclipse. The previous lunar eclipse took place in December 2010.

Two lunar eclipses were calculated for a year and the next lunar eclipse will take place in December. This too will be a total lunar eclipse and will also be completely visible to Sri Lanka.

This eclipse will be one of the darkest eclipses ever because the Moon passes almost exactly in front of the centre of the Earth's shadow.

A lunar eclipse occurs when the moon passes through the earth's shadow. This can occur only when the Sun, Earth and Moon are aligned exactly, or very closely so, with the Earth in the middle. There is always a full Moon on the night of a lunar eclipse.

This lunar eclipse will begin at 10.54 pm on June 15 and it will end on 4.30 am on June 16.