Bhubaneswar: While people have been starving themselves during solar/lunar Eclipse for several years, astronomers, doctors and rationalists differ with the popular myths associated with the natural phenomena.
‘Do not eat during eclipse’ is one of the most followed superstitions in India. The commonly heard story behind it- ‘Rahu’, the demon God eats up Sun/Moon. If you eat anything during that period, then you are committing a sin and the food becomes poison.
Over the years, this story has evolved into a more believable one- Gravitational pull affects digestion of food during eclipse. Pregnant women are also warned against going out and eating and drinking for fear of adverse effects on the foetus.
However, the Indian Institute of Astrophysics (IIA), Bengaluru has stated, “Eclipses do not have any harmful effects on human beings, and it is perfectly safe to go out, eat, or drink during the eclipse.”
A total lunar eclipse will occur on 8th November 2022 (17 Kartika, 1944 Saka Era). The eclipse is visible from all places of India at the time of Moonrise. The eclipse will begin at 2:39 pm, the total eclipse will start at 3:46 pm. The ending time of totality is 5:12 pm and the ending time of partial phase is 6:19 pm.
The beginning of the partial and total phases of the eclipse is not visible from any places of India as the phenomena will be in progress before Moonrise. The ending phase of both the total and the partial phases is visible from the eastern parts of the country.
Only the ending of the partial phase is visible from the rest parts of the country. This eclipse will be visible in the region covering South America, North America, Australia, Asia, the North Atlantic Ocean, and the Pacific Ocean.
According to NASA, it is perfectly safe to look at a lunar eclipse directly. Lunar eclipses, unlike solar eclipses cannot damage vision.
