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Early Monday morning (November 30), attentive sky watchers across North America can watch the full moon they undergo a slight eclipse of penumbra.
The moon will take 4 hours and 21 minutes to glide over the light outer bangs (half light) of the shadow of the Earth, never reaching the dark shadow of the shadow. However, twilight lunar eclipses they are rather subtle events that are usually difficult for most people to detect unless at least 70% of the moon’s diameter is immersed in it.
In this particular case November full moon, known as the beaver moon, will pass quite deep into the twilight. In fact, at the time of the deepest phase / major eclipse (09:42 UT) the penumbra will cover 82.9% of the lunar disk. In other words, the highest limb of the moon will be 566 miles (911 kilometers) from the invisible edge of Earth’s much darker shadowy shadow.
Related: Lunar eclipse 2020 guide: when, where and how to see them
Phases of the lunar eclipse of the beaver moon
Beaver Moon Lunar eclipse
Taking a picture of the lunar eclipse of the Beaver moon? Let us know! You can send pictures and comments to [email protected].
About 20 minutes before the deepest phase of the eclipse, you may see some evidence of this faint penumbral shading on the upper edge of the moon. This corresponds to approximately 4:22 am EST (0922 GMT); 03:22 CST; 02:22 MT and 1:22 PST. About 70% of the moon’s diameter will be immersed in penumbra, so any unusual shading on the top of the moon should – in theory – be detectable. Some may even detect minor traces of half-light shading for a few minutes in advance.
After about 20 minutes, we will arrive at the deepest and most evident part of the eclipse; the upper limb of the moon should appear noticeably shaded with a light anthracite gray or brown hue.
After the deeper phase has passed, you may be able to feel a slight dimming or “smear” on the right edge of the moon for about 20 additional minutes. So while the moon will remain within the penumbra for over 260 minutes, most will likely only be aware of it for about 40 minutes.
The penumbral eclipse will also be detectable from parts of the Caribbean and South America at the setting of the moon. For observers in East Central Asia, Indonesia and Australia it happens Monday evening while the moon is rising. Midway through the eclipse, the moon will appear at its zenith (directly above us) over the North Pacific Ocean, not far from the Hawaiian Islands. From the 50th state, the largest eclipse comes late Sunday evening while the long holiday weekend of Thanksgiving concludes at 11:42 pm Hawaii time.
Here is a diagram showing the passage of the moon through the dim outer shade on Monday, courtesy of Fred Espenak, Eclipsewise.com.
The penumbral eclipse from the moon
It may be easier to understand why the Earth’s penumbra is so faint, by imagining that you are actually on the moon when Monday’s event takes place.
An astronaut on the moon during this period will see an eclipse of the sun, but it will all depend on where our hypothetical moonwalker is on the moon. As seen from the Tycho Crater, the famous brilliant lunar impact crater whose rays make it look like a sunflower on the southern part of the moon, the outline of the Earth will appear to detach only a tiny cut from the top of the sun; just enough to cause a noticeable decrease in light on the surrounding lunar landscape. This is why the lower part of the full moon will appear to shine normally.
Conversely, near the upper limb of the moon lies the region known as Mare Frigoris – the “Sea of Cold”. From here, the Earth will appear to cover more than eight tenths of the sun’s diameter; as a result, the bright solar illumination of the surrounding lunar landscape will become noticeably darker.
And this diminished effect of the glare and illumination of sunlight on the lunar surface is precisely what those of us in North America will be trying to detect during the deepest phase of the eclipse, soon focusing our gaze towards the upper edge of the moon. Monday morning.
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Two lunar eclipses will occur in 2021, so sky watchers should mark their calendars now.
A total eclipse will take place on May 26. As the total eclipses pass, it will be unusually short, with a total duration of less than 15 minutes. The total phase will be visible before the moon sets across the western U.S. Further east, the moon will set in a total eclipse near and along a line from the Montana-North Dakota border southeast to the Texas border. Louisiana. Going further east, only the early stages of the partial phase of the eclipse will be visible before the moon disappears beyond the west-southwest horizon.
On November 19, 2021, North Americans will experience a near-total eclipse. At the maximum eclipse, more than 97% of the moon’s diameter will be immersed in the dark shadowy shadow; only a thin fragment of the lower edge of the moon will remain just outside the shadow. A sufficient amount of the moon will be submerged in shadow to allow it to glow a coppery color as it usually does during a total eclipse. Night owls take note: like our impending eclipse next Monday, as well as the eclipse in May, next November’s eclipse will occur during the early hours of the morning.
One final note: if the weather isn’t cooperating and you end up cloudy on Monday morning, don’t feel disappointed. Even at its peak the dimming effect on the moon will be subtle at best.
Some might say “disappointing”.
Editor’s Note: If you take a nice picture of the Beaver Moon lunar eclipse or any other night sky show you want to share with Space.com and our news partners for a story or image gallery, please send pictures and comments to spacephotos @ space. com.
Joe Rao is an instructor and guest lecturer in New York Hayden Planetarium. He writes about astronomy for Natural History Journal, the Farmers Almanac and other publications. Follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom and so on Facebook.
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