KARACHI – Astronomy enthusiasts alert! If you love to watch celestial bodies and natural phenomena, get ready to be dazzled by a colourful lunar eclipse tonight as the moon comes under the complete shadow of earth for the second and the last time in 2011.
The total lunar eclipse is expected to be accompanied with a range of wonderful colours adorning the sky that mostly will remain reddish and remain visible for about 50 minutes throughout the province, including Karachi, Hyderabad, Sukkur, Larkana and Sanghar districts, and almost the whole country – weather permitting.
The phenomena will also be visible in other countries including Australia, China, India, Iran, Malaysia, Philippines, Saudi Arabia and eastern European countries, including Turkey, Russia, and also in northwest America.
According to the Pakistan Space and Upper Atmosphere Research Commission (SUPARCO), the eclipse will start at 5:46 Pakistan Standard Time (PST) with the total eclipse beginning at 7:06 pm.

At 7:32 pm, the moon will be completely under the earth’s shadow and remain there for around 50 minutes before coming to an end by 9:18 pm.
On June 15, the first lunar eclipse of the current year was also the longest lunar eclipse of the past 11 years that continued for around 100 minutes and was witnessed in Europe, Asia, Africa and Australia.
In 2000, a total lunar eclipse had lasted for about 107 minutes.
Today’s eclipse has a treat in offer for astronomy enthusiasts, as according to astronomers, the moon will noticeably darken and a flare of different colours will brighten up the sky as the earth blocks the sun rays, refracting rays of light through the atmosphere.
They also said that people can watch the phenomena without any protective equipment or a telescope.
An astrology pundit, Maharaj Giyanchand Soniki, claims of positive changes in politics and the general law and order situation in the country after the lunar eclipse. “The eclipse is falling on Saturday, which is governed by Lord Shani [Saturn]. Normally, Shani gets angry when an eclipse falls on a Saturday, but recently Shani left the zodiac constellation of Virgo and entered Libra, due to which the upcoming situation will remain peaceful overall, despite some political tremors,” the guru said.

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