Lunar Eclipse June 2020 India: This will be a penumbral lunar eclipse. (Representational Image: Pixabay)
Lunar Eclipse June 2020: During a Full Moon, when the Sun, the Earth, and the Moon form a straight line with the Earth blocking the sunlight from directly reaching the Moon, we witness the lunar eclipse from Earth. There are a total of three kinds of lunar eclipse — total, partial, and penumbral — all of which depend on the alignment of the three celestial bodies.
The year 2020 was scheduled to have a total of four lunar eclipses. In the month of January this year, we had witnessed the first lunar eclipse of 2020 and the next one is due this week between June 5 and June 6. This eclipse will be penumbral one, which will make it hard to spot for normal people.
Here are some important facts you should know about the upcoming penumbral lunar eclipse of June 2020:
Important facts about June 2020 Penumbral Lunar Eclipse
*A penumbral lunar eclipse happens when the Sun, Earth, and the Moon are imperfectly aligned.
*When the Moon moves through the faint, outer part of Earth’s shadow, a penumbral lunar eclipse takes place.
*The Earth blocks some of the Sun’s light from directly reaching the Moon with the outer 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 hard to distinguish and so a penumbral eclipse looks almost like a normal Full Moon.
How penumbral lunar eclipse happens. (Image: timeanddate.com)
*The full moon of June is known as the Strawberry Moon. That is why this penumbral eclipse could also be called the Strawberry lunar eclipse.
*People from Asia, Australia, Europe, and Africa, will be able to see the upcoming penumbral lunar eclipse.
*As per timeanddate.com, the eclipse will occur between June 5 and June 6, 2020, with the partial eclipse phase starting at 11:15 pm as per the Indian Standard Timing (IST) on June 5.
*The penumbral eclipse will reach the maximum eclipse phase at 12:54 am on June 6 when the Moon is closest to the centre of the shadow.
*As the Moon moves away from the penumbral shadow, the partial eclipse will end at 2:34 am on June 6, 2020.
Also read | Lunar Eclipse June 5, 2020: What’s penumbral lunar eclipse, how it occurs?
The other lunar eclipse of 2020 will occur in July and November. You can read about their timing, when and where to watch and more right here. Notably, the upcoming lunar eclipse will also be penumbral ones.
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