Lunar Eclipse 2021: 'Blood' Supermoon will be most spectacular on May 26; check details here

Lunar Eclipse: If the full moon looks unusually large and reddish this Wednesday (May 26), don't be weirded out; count yourself lucky for catching the only total lunar eclipse of 2021.

May's full moon has a lot going on. In addition to the total lunar eclipse, which earns it the name "blood moon," because it will have a reddish tint, this moon is a supermoon and the closest full moon of the year, beating out April's full moon by 98 miles (157 kilometers), meaning it will appear infinitesimally larger to skywatchers on Earth. What's more, May's full moon is known as the Flower Moon, named for the wildflowers blooming in the Northern Hemisphere.

Full Moon Day:

As with any lunar eclipse, questions abound: What's the best time and place to see the supermoon and the total lunar eclipse? Why will the moon appear red? Is it worth it to get special binoculars or a telescope? Read on to find out.

"On the night of May 26, the sun, earth and moon will be aligned in a way that the Full Moon will also be eclipsed for some time as viewed from Kolkata. The moon on its journey around the earth will be passing through the earth's shadow and will be totally eclipsed," said astrophysicist and Director of MP Birla Planetarium, Debiprasad Duari. The partial eclipse of the moon will start at around 3:15 pm and end at 6:22 pm in Kolkata.

Here's all you need to know:

A Full Moon is called a supermoon when it is closest to the Earth in its orbit. This usually happens once a year.

The totally eclipsed moon will appear reddish in colour, hence the name Blood Moon

"The eclipsed moon is dimly illuminated by red-orange light left over from all of the sunsets and sunrises occurring around the world at that time": NASA

"The more dust or clouds in Earth's atmosphere during the eclipse, the redder the moon will appear": NASA

A brighter and bigger Full Moon can be seen on May 26

At perigee (closest to the earth) a Full Moon looks 30 per cent bigger and 14 per cent brighter than an average Full Moon

The moon will be at its perigee exactly at around 7:23 pm, at a distance of 3,57,309 km from the Earth

Like all Full Moons, the supermoon rises in the east around sunset and sets in the west around sunrise

The May Full Moon is also called a Flower Moon because it happens during the spring season in the Northern Hemisphere

The next total Lunar Eclipse will occur on May 16, 2022, but, it will not be visible from the Indian subcontinent but the Lunar Eclipse of November 8, 2022 will be seen from India.

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