- Southern Hemisphere Sky Events

Penumbral Lunar Eclipse tonight

(Posted 28 November 2012) A penumbral lunar eclipse occurs tonight when the Moon moves through the lightest outer part of the Earth’s shadow. Mid-eclipse will be at 12.33am AEST. Depending on the darkness of the Earth’s shadow, the eclipse may not be noticeable.  A photograph of the Moon at maximum eclipse should show darkening or a slight reddish colour.

Penumbral lunar eclipse at maximum at 12.33 am AEST on 29 November 2012. Finder chart produced using Sky Safari Pro Ipad app. Used with permission.

More information about this eclipse can be found here on NASA’s Lunar Eclipse website.

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5 thoughts on “Penumbral Lunar Eclipse tonight

  1. Well, Earth’s shadow must have been rather faint. Was unable to notice any differences throughout the penumbral eclipse. Always nice to check out the moon, though.

  2. Nick,

    The Moon only passed through the very outer edge of the Earth’s shadow. I think that is so faint you can only pick it up in photographs. I personally find penumbral eclipses disappointing because they are so hard to see. There is only one I have seen that was worth looking for – when the Moon passed very close to the unbra (the darkest part of the Earth’s shadow). Then you could see something was happening.

    Regards,

    Paul Floyd.

  3. I was in bed. The 100% cloud cover put me off waiting to see if I could see anything.

    Regards,

    Paul Floyd.

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