Patna: Shrikrishna Science Centre failed to make arrangements for residents to see the century's longest lunar eclipse because of the event's timing and overcast conditions.

This will be longest lunar eclipse of the 21st century, lasting an hour and forty-three minutes. The partial eclipse will be seen around 11.54pm on Friday, while the total eclipse will be visible around 1am on Saturday.

Shrikrishna Science Centre in the city hosts shows of such rare astronomical events. It had arrangements for residents to see through the telescope the Super Blue Blood Moon on January 31, when the event occurred after 150 years. The centre's curator, Ramswaroop, said: "The lunar eclipse will likely be for around six hours. It The eclipse will start around 10.44pm and continue till 4.48am but it would be visible from 11.54pm-3.49am.

"So, instead we organised a lecture on awesome eclipses, the phenomena, myths and misconceptions on Friday. The show was organised four times for several groups of school students. We didn't organise telescope viewing during the lunar eclipse because of the odd timing. Besides, we would not have clear skies at that time," he added.

Kilkari Bihar Bal Bhavan, a wing of the education department, also organised a slideshow on lunar eclipse for around 50 children. The centre has also planned celestial viewing of the event through a manual telescope.

Priyanka Gupta, facilitator from Delhi's Manav Rachna School, showed various lunar eclipse slides and answered the children's queries.

"The children asked me why the moon turns red during a lunar eclipse and why don't solar and lunar eclipses happen every month. They also asked about misconceptions such as avoiding having during eclipses. It was quite an engaging session," said Priyanka.

"I have been excited since last week to see the celestial event. I hope the sky clears by tonight," said Anjali Kumari, 10, one of the children at Kilkari, crossing her fingers.