Penumbral Lunar Eclipse 2020: Know Facts about Strawberry Moon Eclipse

Another lunar eclipse or Chandra Grahan is almost here, and it is the second of four this year. It will be noticeable from India, and a few parts of the world. This lunar eclipse 2020 will be a partial penumbral eclipse meaning the Moon will travel through the faint, an outer part of Earth’s shadow called the penumbra. This kind of penumbral eclipse is frequently confused with a normal full Moon. In this manner, it is additionally being alluded to by name including Strawberry Moon Eclipse, Mead Moon Eclipse, Honey Moon Eclipse, and more.

What is Penumbral lunar eclipse 2020?

A penumbral lunar eclipse is one of the three kinds of lunar eclipses – total, partial, and penumbral. A penumbral lunar eclipse happens when the Sun, Earth, and the Moon are imperfectly aligned. During a penumbral lunar eclipse, the Earth blocks a portion of the Sun’s light from straightforwardly reaching the Moon, and the outer part of the Earth’s shadow called the ‘penumbra’ covers all or part of the Moon. Since the penumbra is fainter contrasted with the dark core of the Earth’s shadow called ‘umbra’, this eclipse is harder to spot. This is additionally why sometimes a penumbral lunar eclipse is mixed up as a full Moon.

At the point when the Moon travels through the faint, external part of Earth’s shadow, we witness a penumbral lunar eclipse from the Earth.

Penumbral lunar eclipse timing

The eclipse will happen between June 5 and June 6, 2020. It will begin at 11:15 pm according to the Indian Standard Timing (IST) on June 5. It will arrive at the maximum eclipse at 12:54 am on June 6 when the Moon is nearest to the center of the shadow. The penumbral eclipse will end at 2:34 am on June 6, 2020.

Aside from this lunar eclipse in June, the year 2020 has two more lunar eclipses lined up. One lunar eclipse will happen in July and the last lunar eclipse of the year will happen in November. These two eclipses are likewise penumbral ones.

June Full Moon or Strawberry Moon

June’s full moon is coinciding with the penumbral lunar eclipse on June 5-6 and according to a report by Space.com, the full moon will happen on June 6 at 12:42 am IST. It will be visible from India and different parts of the world, be that as it may, North America and the majority of South America will miss out on it. Strawberry Moon is a nickname for a full moon that shows up in June. It came from the strawberry harvesting season in some parts of the US.

“The Maine Farmer’s Almanac first published “Indian” names for the Full Moons in the 1930s. According to this Almanac, as the full Moon in June and the last Full Moon of spring, the Algonquin tribes called this the Strawberry Moon. The name comes from the relatively short season for harvesting strawberries in the north-eastern United States,” composes NASA.

When and where to watch the June 2020 lunar eclipse

The penumbral lunar eclipse will begin at 11:15 pm on June 5 and keep going until 2:34 am on June 6, which is around three hours and 18 minutes. It will be noticeable from Eastern Africa, the Middle East, Southern Asia including India, and Australia. According to the information by NASA, the eclipse will be visible to individuals living on the Eastern coast of South America, Western Africa, and Europe at Moonrise and to individuals in Japan and New Zealand at Moonset.

How to watch the penumbral lunar eclipse 2020

The penumbral lunar eclipse might be difficult to spot however well known YouTube channels including Slooh and Virtual Telescope are known to host live streams. Virtual Telescope Project 2.0 is likewise supposed to carrying a live webcast of the eclipse that will be hosted by cosmologist Gianluca Masi.

Three eclipses in a lunar month

The lunar eclipse on June 5 is the first of three lunar eclipses in this lunar month of June to July 2020, according to a report by EarthSky. This is likewise called an eclipse season. The first, as we are probably aware if on June 5, followed by June 21 Solar Eclipse that will be visible from Africa, South-eastern Europe, and Asia. The last lunar eclipse will occur on July 5 which will be visible to individuals in North and South America.

Important facts about June 2020 Penumbral Lunar Eclipse

1. A penumbral lunar eclipse happens when the Sun, Earth, and the Moon are imperfectly aligned.
2. When the Moon travels through the faint, external part of Earth’s shadow, a penumbral lunar eclipse happens.
3. The Earth hinders a portion of the Sun’s light from straightforwardly arriving at the Moon with the external part of its shadow called the penumbra. Since the penumbra is much fainter than the dark core of the Earth’s shadow, the shadow is difficult to recognize thus a penumbral eclipse looks almost like a typical Full Moon.
4. The full moon of June is known as the Strawberry Moon. That is the reason this penumbral eclipse could likewise be known as the Strawberry lunar eclipse. The up and coming second penumbral lunar eclipse of 2020 is called ‘Strawberry Moon Eclipse’. This is because the full moon of June is known as the Strawberry Moon.
5. This lunar eclipse will be noticeable to individuals living in many parts of Europe, Asia, Australia, Africa, South America, Pacific, Atlantic, Indian Ocean, and Antarctica.
6. The eclipse will happen between June 5 and June 6, 2020, with the partial eclipse phase beginning at 11:15 pm according to the Indian Standard Timing (IST) on June 5.
7. The penumbral eclipse will arrive at the maximum eclipse phase at 12:54 am on June 6 when the Moon is nearest to the center of the shadow.
8. As the Moon moves from the penumbral shadow, the partial eclipse will end at 2:34 am on June 6, 2020.
9. It is being accounted for that the complete duration of this penumbral lunar eclipse is three hours and 18 minutes.
10. Due to this being a penumbral lunar eclipse, it will be hard for individuals to see anything until the Moon’s edge has slid at least halfway inside the Earth’s penumbra.
11. After this, two more penumbral lunar eclipses for 2020 will be left. These will occur between July 4 to July 5 and between November 29 to November 30.