Look up, it’s the night of the lunar eclipse!

The city along with other cities in India and foreign countries will witness its last lunar eclipse of the year 2011 on Saturday, December 10. This year there have been a total of six eclipses including this one, to make it four solar and two lunar ones in all. The eclipse on Saturday will be the second eclipse which will be visible in more than half the world.

The eclipse in India will take place between 6:16pm and 9:48pm. At 8:27pm the moon will become very dark and the eclipse will be at its maximum. By 10pm, the shadow play will be over and a bright full moon would be seen. It will be a great opportunity for the citizens to witness this year's final lunar eclipse as the next year the lunar eclipse will be seen after a gap of six years in the year August 2017.

Various groups and clubs have organised a public viewing at different locations across the city. One among them to have a public gathering is Science City. Speaking to DNA about the programme, senior scientist at Science City, Narottam Sahoo said, "We have elaborate arrangements with telescopes and binoculars along with resource persons and scientists for explaining the phenomenon."

Sahoo added that the entire programme at Science City will take place between 6pm and 10pm on Saturday. Moreover, similar programmes will be held in all the community science centres across the state, with a participation of a large number of students and public.