Even a casual observer looking at the Moon this coming Saturday night will notice that there is something not quite ‘right’ about it. If you are patient and you keep looking at the moon over the period 8.16pm through to 11pm AEST, you will notice that a shadow of some sort seems to move across one side of the Moon. What is really happening is the opposite. The Moon will in fact be slowly moving through the Earth’s shadow, causing what is known as a Lunar Eclipse.
Unlike a Solar Eclipse, a Lunar Eclipse can safely be looked at, and it will look even better with some sort of optical aid such as a pair of binoculars. The interesting thing about this coming lunar eclipse is that no one knows what it will look like. By that I am not referring to the shadows location, but rather its colour. The colour is always slightly different at each eclipse, and is determined by how much material has been injected into the Earth’s atmosphere by active volcanoes. It will be interesting to see if Iceland’s volcano has injected enough fine material to make the Earth’s shadow darker and redder than during previous eclipses.
Eclipse details: (all times AEST)
Penumbral eclipse begins: 6:55pm 26 June
Partial eclipse begins: 8.16pm
Mid-eclipse: 9.38pm
Partial eclipse ends: 11.00pm
Penumbral eclipse ends: 12.21pm 27 June
Lunar eclipses in theory could occur every month. However, the Moon’s orbit is tilted 5 degrees relative to the plane in which the Earth orbits the Sun. That means that the Moon usually passes above or below the Earth’s shadow each month. Even if the Moon does pass through the Earth’s shadow, it may only pass through the outer or penumbral part of the Earth’s shadow. This outer part of the shadow is quite hard to see meaning that these penumbral eclipses aren’t that obvious.
Miss this eclipse and you will have to wait until the early morning of 11 December 2011 when we are treated to a partial Lunar Eclipse visible from Eastern Australia.
