Hyderabad, March 3 -- This year's total lunar eclipse was a spectacular event, not just in the sense that it happened to coincide with Holi, but also because the Hyderabadis were able to witness a full 26-minute view of the blood moon on Tuesday, March 3.

The celestial event began at around 6.22 pm, just around the time when the sirens for iftar were sounded.

As the moon passed through the Earth'sumbra(its dark inner shadow), its surface glowed in a coppery-red colour as sunlight filtered through Earth's atmosphere. That was the blood moon witnessed by the people living around Hyderabad.

The eclipse was visible from most parts of India, barring some regions in the extreme west. In contrast, parts of northeastern India and the Andaman a...