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The longest partial lunar eclipse in over 500 years began on Thursday as Earth, Sun and the moon aligned with the planet blocking the Sun’s light from reaching the lunar surface. This over six-hour-long eclipse will shadow the moon till 5:33 pm IST.

This is also the last lunar eclipse of the year.

The November 19 partial lunar eclipse will shatter records for the longest eclipse becoming longer than a total lunar eclipse. The reason this celestial phenomenon will be unusually long is that it comes 41 hours after the Moon reaches apogee, its farthest point from Earth.

The partial shadow of Earth began falling on the upper left part of the Moon at 11:32:09 am IST. The slight dimming of the Moon will not be noticeable until the full shadow of the Earth begins falling on the upper part of the Moon at 12:48 pm IST.

The arc of the shadow of the round Earth will spread across the Moon until the peak of the eclipse at 2:32 pm, when over 97 per cent of the Moon will be in full shadow and only a small sliver of the left side of the Moon will shine in the partial shadow of the Earth. The full shadow of the Earth will gradually move off the Moon to the lower right, completely emerging from the full shadow at 4:17 pm IST.

People in northeast India will be able to view the final phases of the partial lunar eclipse. The eclipse will be visible in parts of Arunachal Pradesh, Assam and neighbouring regions.

According to timeanddate.com, the November 19 partial lunar eclipse will sustain its record for another four thousand years as the six-hour-long partial lunar eclipse will likely happen on October 9, 2489.

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India today

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