A captivating celestial event is set to grace the night sky on Saturday: a partial lunar eclipse. This stunning display will allow stargazers to witness a portion of Earth’s shadow cast upon the moon.
For those fortunate enough to be within the eclipse path, which stretches across Europe, Africa, most of Asia, and western Australia, the moon will appear as if a chunk has been taken out of it during the partial eclipse, occurring between 3:34 p.m. and 4:52 p.m. ET, as reported by EarthSky.
Accompanying the partial eclipse is a penumbral eclipse, commencing at 2:01 p.m. ET. This causes a slight dimming of the moon due to the Earth’s outer shadow, also known as the penumbra. Following this, the inner and darker shadow of our planet, the umbra, will create the partial eclipse. People along the eastern coasts of North and South America will catch a glimpse of the tail end of the penumbral eclipse, just before it concludes at 6:26 p.m. ET, according to Time and Date. A captivating celestial
While the moon will not turn red as it does during a total lunar eclipse — when light from the sun only reaches the moon after passing through Earth’s dusty and cloudy atmosphere, according to NASA — the partial eclipse will provide an easy-to-see show that does not require any extra equipment, said Dr. Shannon Schmoll, director of the Abrams Planetarium at Michigan State University.
“As long as you are on the night side of the Earth and you can see the moon, you can see this happening,” Schmoll said. “If there (are) observatories or places with telescopes that are nearby, or you have a telescope, those are always nice to break out to see some more of those details up close, but it’s not necessary.”