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Lunar eclipse on Poya day
This year the Vesak full moon will be darkened by a total lunar eclipse. A meteor shower could be visible at dawn from the direction of the star constellation Aquarius, says the Arthur C. Clarke Institute for Modern Technologies.

Although the eclipse begins at 11.51 pm on May 4, the partial eclipse phase visible to the naked eye will commence at 12.48 am. The total eclipse begins at 1.52 am on May 5. It will last till 3.08 am. The partial eclipse ends at 4.12 a.m and the process will last till 5. 10 am. Meanwhile, the dawn on May 5 will see a shower of meteors named Eta Aquarids with particles from Halley’s comet, which was last seen by the naked eye in 1910.

In addition, two new comets, NEAT and LINER, which were discovered in 2001 and 2002 respectively, will be visible during these days. These comets are visible after 8 years, when the Comet Hyakutake was seen in 1996. The best dates to watch the comets are May 4 - 10 after sunset in the southwest skies.

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