[nukkad] lunar eclipse

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loudspeakers were spewing forth the chants of sacred vedic hymns being
sung by devout mighty crowd at a nearby temple. peculiar timing, it was
past midnight in cold winter. aren't Gods asleep at this time. or have
They also taken a break from the routine to support ordinary mortals in
this hour of calamity.

as darkness descended, the chanting became more desparate and hoarse,
combined with the orchestra of drum beats, metal plates (thali) made of
special metal were also played upon, ringing of bells reached a
crescendo and then came the all purifying vibrating, echoing sounds of
dozens of counch shells. the demon that is devouring the pious light has
to be scared away at the earliest. no holds barred.

first total lunar eclipse of the third millenium is on.

today's local newspaper has given detailed list of zodiac signs, on
which the eclipse is "heavy". it is in gemini, so those are to suffer
losses, bad health and pain. it is good for no sunsign.

to counter the divinity, it has also sited do's and don'ts during the
eclipse. fasts, charity, alms, not eating, not going out, and above all,
NOT SEEING IT. one young friend, rupesh who recently met in the star
show, rang me and said that he wanted to see the eclipse but his mom, a
gemini has clear cut instrcuted - nothing doing.

it must have started at the said time, but i did not see any noticeable
difference as the moon trespassed into the penumbra. there was slight
darkening in the oceanus procellarum, mare nubium and surrounding area,
but you could have ignored it had you not been expecting something.

full one hour passed without much special effect, but then the demon
took first bite of the moon from in between grimaldi and mare humorum.
after some time it was gone and the heavenly meal was on. but as it
progressed, the disappeared edge of the moon again became noticeable,
due to refracted light from the earth. tycho and copernicus were still
dazzling.

no, it was not yet bloddy red, it was black. gamma geminorium was not
visible to the naked eye, and difficult to concentrate with 8x30 bino in
the glare of moon.

after it was less than half remaining, the bloody red effect became
visible from the point where the eclipse started. but then it appeared
that the eclipse has slowed down. the demon devoured all those maria
and  craters. and as totality approached the remaining bright crescent
seemed to shift from straight light of the progress of the eclipse to a
little sideways.

i had put two bedsheets, a pillow and a quilt, along with two sweaters.
gods were indeed considerate as after almost a fortnight of chill,
tempeartures have become bearable just today.

moon was past overhead now, so i switched the direction of my viewing
from north-west to south east. gamma geminorium became visible to naked
eye and dozens of more stars as well as full gemini, cancer, leo, canis
major, canis minor. i fill the delay in totality with observing beehive
cluster and the head of hydra. big bear also up. virgo rising, spica not
yet up.

the dark part of the moon was bloody red, but i can bet that the bright
crescent, especially the edges had become green. thru naked eye, thru
8x30 bino as well as thru 20x50 scope. why was it so?

green is the complemtary color of red, so it could be the satiation of
eyes after looking at bloody red moon.

the last somewhat bright edge of moon took an eon to fade, but i am sure
that it never totally disappeared. probably my eyes had become so dark
adapted. it apeared that the last bright edge of the moon remained
there, shifted from mare crisium sideways to mare frigoris.

chanting from the temple has ceased, probably they are sure that demon's
spirit has been broken and it is on the run. hasn't it gone away every
time in last 5000 years.

delta corvi (hast), spica (chitra) and arcturus (swati) are up and high
in the east, mars can't be far behind.

it is 2:30 in the morning, totality has ended. sinus roris, aristarchus
and copernicus are visible. mars is up, so is zubenelgenubi (vishakha).

long live luna.

good morning.

signing off.

from planet earth.
3:00 AM
23n, 76e ut+330



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