KARACHI, Aug 15: If the weather permits, star-gazers in Karachi – and across the nation – will witness a partial lunar eclipse on the night between Saturday and Sunday. The eclipse is scheduled to begin at 1.36am and is significant as it will not only be the last eclipse of 2008, but there will be no more eclipses witnessed in Pakistan throughout 2009 and 2010.

The celestial event follows closely on the heels of the August 1 partial solar eclipse, an event that galvanised astronomy buffs across the globe. However, the sun disc coverage as seen from Karachi was only about 45 per cent during that event as opposed to other areas of the world – such as parts of Russia and China – where the viewing experience was much more intense as the eclipse was witnessed in totality.

According to a press release issued by the Space and Upper Atmosphere Research Commission (Suparco), the partial eclipse, which will occur on the night of Aug 16 and 17, will begin at 1.36 am, while the greatest eclipse will be seen at 3.10am. The partial eclipse will end at 4.44am.

Unlike the recent solar eclipse, the lunar show might prove to be quite extraordinary as according to the press release, at the time of the greatest eclipse, 80.8 per cent of the moon will pass inside the earth’s umbral shadow.

A lunar eclipse occurs when the earth, sun and moon align and the moon passes through a portion of the earth’s shadow.

As for viewing conditions, the Met Office told Dawn that the weather forecast for Saturday is cloudy to partly cloudy.

Whereas the solar eclipse generated considerable buzz among local astronomy buffs, perhaps the odd timing of the moon and earth’s late night waltz will limit the celestial event’s audience to only the most dedicated star-gazers.

When Shahid Qureshi, in-charge of the University of Karachi’s Institute of Space and Planetary Astrophysics (ISPA) was contacted, he told Dawn that due to the late hours and maintenance work under way at the observatory, there will be no public viewing of the event.

But he added that unlike a solar eclipse, which should not be viewed with the naked eye due to radiation emanating from the sun despite the eclipse, one can view the lunar eclipse with the aid of binoculars. Asked if there would be any major change in the appearance of the moon, he said the earth’s satellite would assume a reddish tinge, mainly due to the atmosphere.

He said this would be the last lunar eclipse visible in Pakistan, as the eclipses scheduled for 2009 and 2010 will not be seen in the country.