“If you have to go out, take extra precautions,” said feng shui expert Tham Fook Cheong.

Astrologer Chin Jip Seng also said that today’s lunar eclipse was not a good sign because the Earth was covering most of the Sun, the source of great light.

“It will be very bad for the first half of the year. There will be bad times ahead. We have to hope and pray.”

Be indoors during the eclipse, said astrologer Ariamalar Kathiravelu.

“The energy from outside during the full moon is too strong.

“You can eat anything as long as you are in the house with the doors shut to protect one’s self from the energy.”

But feng shui consultant Lillian Too is rejoicing because of the lunar eclipse.

“It is a full moon. It is a good sign. It is a cause for celebration,” she said from Los Angeles.

During today’s lunar eclipse seen between 4.30am and 7.30am (local time) after three years, the Earth will pass between the Sun and Moon, blocking the Sun’s ray of light.

Founder and past president of the Astronomical Society of Malaysia, Dr Lim Ju Boo, said lunar eclipses and other forms of eclipses had fascinated the world and even elicited predictions and superstitions.

But from a scientific point of view, the fascinating aspect of the lunar eclipse is the colour of the eclipse.

“The colour is a direct reflection of the clarity of our Earth’s atmosphere as sunlight passes through it and subsequently falls on the surface of the Moon,” he said.

Although the physical mass of Earth blocked all direct sunlight from the umbra, the planet’s atmosphere refracted some of the Sun’s rays into the shadow, he said.

The Earth’s atmosphere contains varying amounts of water coming from the clouds, mist, precipitation and solid particles such as meteoric dust, organic debris and volcanic ash.

“These materials significantly filter and attenuate the sunlight before it is refracted into the umbra,” he said.

For example, he added, large or frequent volcanic eruptions which dumped huge quantities of ash into the atmosphere were followed by very dark, red eclipses for several years.

Extensive cloud cover along the Earth’s limb also tends to darken the eclipse by blocking sunlight.

source : www.nst.com.my