Longest lunar eclipse of century to take place tonight - Pragnya IAS Academy - News Analysis.

Longest lunar eclipse of century to take place tonight.

Today's total lunar eclipse will be this century's longest eclipse. The eclipse will begin a little before midnight at about 11.15 p.m. and will last for an hour and 43 minutes.

The eclipse can be seen from all over the country when there are no clouds. The eclipse will also be visible from countries in Africa, Central Asia, South America, Europe and Australia. As the shadow glides across the surface of the Moon, it takes on a distinctive red glow - an effect caused by the bending of light in Earth's atmosphere.

Obviously from where the term "blood moon" comes from but, this one will happen for about one hour 42 minutes and 57 seconds. When the longest "blood moon" in history is happening, Mars will be only 35.9 million miles from Earth. According to experts, this is the closest that the red planet has been to Earth in 15 years.
It is occurring at a time when the moon is at its farthest distance from the earth therefore, it will be the longest total lunar eclipse in this century.
This time, the moon would pass right through the centre of the earth's shadow which makes it the first central lunar eclipse after the one in June 2011. (Source: News on Air)(Article Related to GS paper-1 and GS paper – 3)


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Longest lunar eclipse of century to take place tonight.

Century’s longest lunar eclipse on July 27 - Pragnya IAS Academy - News Analysis.

Century’s longest lunar eclipse on July 27.

It will be visible from all parts of the country.

The longest total lunar eclipse of this century would be visible from all parts of the country on July 27.

The celestial body would also be tinged with a reddish hue, a phenomenon popularly referred to as a blood moon.
Director, Research and Academic, MP Birla Institute of Fundamental Research, MP Birla Planetarium, Debiprosad Duari told PTI, “Viewers in India are lucky, since the eclipse, both partial and the total, will be entirely visible from all parts of the country.”
The eclipse would also be visible in parts of South America, much of Africa, West Asia and Central Asia, he said.
The total lunar eclipse would last for one hour and 43 minutes while partial eclipses, which would precede and follow the total eclipse, would last more than an hour, he said.
The partial eclipse of the moon would start at 11:54 pm IST on July 27 and the total eclipse would begin at 1 am on July 28. The moon would look the darkest at 1:52 am on July 28 and it would continue till 2:43 am.
“Blood moon” is a non-scientific term used to refer to the red tinge on a fully eclipsed moon.
“After this period, the moon will remain partially eclipsed till 3:49 am of July 28. It will be a golden opportunity for celestial enthusiasts in India as the eclipse will be visible almost throughout the night,” Mr. Duari said.
During a total lunar eclipse, the Moon’s disk can take on a dramatically colourful appearance from bright orange to blood red and more rarely dark brown to very dark gray, depending upon the part of the Earth’s shadow it would be passing through. This was the reason a totally eclipsed Moon, at times, was called as blood moon.
Describing 2018, as a year of lunar eclipses, Mr. Duari said the last total lunar eclipse took place earlier on January 31.
“The next total lunar eclipse on January 21, 2019, will be only for one hour and two minutes because it will pass to the north of the shadow’s centre,” Mr. Duari added. (Source: The Hindu)


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Century’s longest lunar eclipse on July 27.

World's longest sandstone cave with length three times that of Mt Everest discovered in Meghalaya - Pragnya IAS Academy - News Analysis

World's longest sandstone cave with length three times that of Mt Everest discovered in Meghalaya.

he world's longest sandstone cave named Krem Puri was recently discovered in Meghalaya. It has a staggering length of 24.5 km, almost three times the height of Mount Everest, and contains some dinosaur fossils from 66-76 million years ago as well.
'Krem' means 'cave' in Khasi language. The cave system which is 24,583 metres long was discovered in near Laitsohum village, located in the Mawsynram area in Meghalaya's East Khasi Hills district.Though Krem Puri had been discovered in 2016 itself, its actual length was mapped only recently when the Meghalaya Adventurers' Association (MAA) took a 25-day expedition to this end.
The dinosaur fossils in the longest sandstone cave in the world include those of the Mosasaurus, believe palentologists. It was a carnivorous aquatic lizard that resided on Earth around 66-70 million years ago.
KREM PURI CAVE SYSTEM IS 6000 METRES LONGER THAN PREVIOUS RECORD HOLDER
The previous world record holder in the longest sandstone cave category was Venezuela's Cueva Del Saman in Edo Zulia. This is an 18,200-metre (18.2km) long quartzite sandstone cave.
Meghalaya is also home to India's longest cave in the general category - the Krem Liat Prah-Umim-Labit limestone cave system located in Jaintia Hills. It measures over 31 km in length.
Krem Puri is now the second longest cave system in the general category after this.
EXPEDITION BY MMA
The 25-day expedition by the Meghalaya Adventurers' Association was carried out by a team of four Italian scientists from La Venta, 30 experienced cave explorers from UK, Ireland, Austria, Romania, Switzerland, Poland, the Netherlands, and the rest of the members from MAA.
This expedition, which took place from February 5 to March 1, 2018, explored almost the entirety of Krem Puri. Only a few leads have been left open.
MEGHALAYA IS HOME TO 1650 CAVES AND CAVE SYSTEMS
The North-Eastern Indian state of Meghalaya is renowned for its complex cave systems underneath the many hills. It has more than 1650 known caves and cave locations of which 1000 have been partially or fully explored. Official data says 491 kilometres of caves have been already surveyed while many more remain to be explored.
There are so many cave systems in Meghalaya located in the areas of Cherrapunjee, Shella, Pynursla, Nongjri, Mawsynram and Langrin, that the explored caves amount to only five per cent of the total caves in the state.
General Secretary of MAA and founding member, Brian Khapran Daly, informed HT that 22.8 km of new cave passages were mapped in this expedition leading to the exploration of the world's longest sandstone cave, which included nine more partially and newly explored caves. Khapran has been exploring and mapping Meghalaya caves since the early 90s and also received the Tenzing Norgay National Adventure Award in 2002. (Source: Indiatoday)


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World's longest sandstone cave with length three times that of Mt Everest discovered in Meghalaya.