Mangaluru: On account of the total lunar eclipse on Wednesday, City’s Federation of Indian Rationalist Associations has termed the religious and cultural practices followed during a lunar eclipse as myths To debunk them, rationalists organised a moon-viewing session on Wednesday, and consumed food under the eclipsed moon at the Mangaluru City Corporation swimming pool premises in the evening.

"The appearance of the moon in three colours is a myth. Astrologers are confused between spreading their superstitions and trying to use the terminology of modern science. A blue moon is an additional full moon that appears in a sub-division of a year: either the third or fourth full moon in a season, or the second full moon in a calendar month," Rationalist movemnet head Narendra Nayak said.

The rationalists believe the phrase has nothing to do with the actual colour of the moon, although a literal blue moon (the moon appearing with a tinge of blue) may occur in certain atmospheric conditions, like during volcanic eruptions or fires leaving particles in the atmosphere of just the right size, to preferentially scatter red light.