On Monday, February 9, 2009, see the northern half of the full Moon pass through the shadow of Earth, producing a penumbral lunar eclipse, the first lunar eclipse of 2009. The only things you need are your eyes and clear skies overhead!
If weather cooperates in your local sky, the eclipse of the upper portion of the Moon will be visible to upward looking skygazers between the hours of 1400 and 1520 Universal Time Coordinated (UTC).
On the western coast of the United States, these times correspond to 6:00 a.m. and 7:00 a.m. Pacific Standard Time (PST).
The times of the major phases of this eclipse occur at:
• 12:38:46 UTC (4:38:46 a.m. PST): Penumbral eclipse starts
• 14:38:15 UTC (6:38:15 a.m. PST): Greatest eclipse occurs
• 16:37:40 UTC (8:37:40 a.m. PST): Penumbral eclipse ends
During a lunar eclipse, the Earth is positioned on a line between the Sun and the Moon so that the light of the Sun is either fully blocked (which causes an umbra lunar eclipse) or partially (a penumbral lunar eclipse) blocked from illuminating the Moon.
For this one on February 9th, the penumbral lunar eclipse will be centered over the western Pacific Ocean.
The penumbra is the faint, partially shaded outer region of the shadow of the Earth as the Moon passes through it.
A penumbral lunar eclipse are not so dramatic as an umbra lunar eclipse (when the lunar surface is completely shadowed by the Earth’s umbra), which involves the darkest inner part of the Earth’s shadow.
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Most, but not all of the light from the Sun will be blocked by the Earth onto the Moon.
Consequently, the penumbral lunar eclipse on February 9, 2009, will show a faint but still very visible dusky shading of the northern (upper, from our vantage point on Earth) part of the Moon.
However, the eclipse will only be detectable by the naked eye when at least half of the Moon enters the penumbra.
According to NASA, this February 9th event will be the “deepest penumbral eclipse” for 2009, with a penumbral magnitude of 0.899 (according to the Danjon scale: 0 is a very dark eclipse with Moon almost invisible; 1 is a dark (gray or brownish) eclipse; 2 a deep red or rust-colored one; 3 is a brick-red one; and 4 is a very bright copper-red or orange eclipse). [TimeandDate.com: “Penumbral Lunar Eclipse on February 9, 2009”] Three other penumbral lunar eclipses will occur in 2009."
People who have the best spots for viewing the penumbral lunar eclipse are those in Hawaii in North America, eastern Asia, Australia, and New Zealand.
Page three states other regions also able to see the eclipse, along with a map showing which regions will be able to see the penumbral lunar eclipse and which unlucky ones won't get a chance to see it.
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