What is a partial lunar eclipse? Not Every Full Moon Night The Sun, Earth, and Moon must be nearly aligned, but not as closely aligned as during a partial eclipse.The Moon must be in the Full Moon phase. Two celestial events must happen at the same time for a penumbral lunar eclipse to occur: Very keen observers may then see the Moon turn a shade darker during the maximum of the eclipse. This kind of eclipse is almost impossible to see.ĭuring a full penumbral eclipse, on the other hand, the Earth's penumbra covers the entire face of the Moon. During a partial penumbral eclipse, only part of the Earth's penumbra covers the Moon's surface. Penumbral lunar eclipses can be partial or full. Lunar nodes are the locations where the Moon crosses the Earth's orbital plane. (From their perspective on the Moon, they would see a partial solar eclipse.) If a person was standing on the Moon’s surface during a penumbral lunar eclipse, they would see Earth block out some-but not all-of the Sun. The best time to try and catch it is around maximum eclipse, when one edge of the Moon may appear slightly darker than the other. These events are called penumbral eclipses.ĭifferent kinds of eclipses Not Easy to Seeīecause Earth’s penumbral shadow is light, it can be hard to spot as it moves across the face of the Moon. Often, the Moon also passes through Earth’s dark, inner shadow-known as the umbra-producing a partial or total lunar eclipse.īut sometimes, in around one out of three lunar eclipses, the Moon doesn’t reach the umbra: the penumbral stage is as deep as the eclipse gets. This is where the Moon passes through the light, outer part of Earth’s shadow, called the penumbra. Here the Moon is covered by the penumbra, but not the umbra-making this a penumbral lunar eclipse.Įvery lunar eclipse begins and ends with a penumbral stage. This graphic shows the two large circular shadows that Earth casts into space: the inner umbra, and the outer penumbra. Business Date to Date (exclude holidays).
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