Penumbral Eclipse on August 6, 2009

A penumbral lunar eclipse set to occur on August 6, 2009, will be the third of four lunar eclipses during the year. The eclipse is predicted to last for about three hours.

The penumbral lunar eclipse on August 6, 2009, is predicted to last for about three hours.It will not be visible to the naked eye.

Will the Eclipse be Visible?

The August 6 eclipse will not be visible to the naked eye as its magnitude is only 0.402, according to NASA. There is little chance of seeing more than the slightest hint of this passage (Harrington, 1997). This lunar eclipse will bring the moon’s northern limb into Earth’s penumbra.

When Will the Eclipse Occur?

The first penumbral contact occurs at 23:04:21 Universal Time (UT). The ecliptic conjunction occurs at about 00:54:52 UT and the point of greatest eclipse occurs at about 00:39:11 UT.  The eclipse ends at about 02:14:08 UT.

Where Will the Eclipse Be?

The moon will be in the constellation Capricornus during the eclipse, which will be near the meridian at maximum for them.  For what there will be to see, sky watchers in Europe and Africa will be best placed to see it (Harrington, 1997).

Eclipses in 2009

The August 6 eclipse is not the only eclipse in 2009. The list of eclipses for 2009 includes:

• An annular solar eclipse on January 26.
• A penumbral lunar eclipse on February 9.
• A penumbral lunar eclipse on July 7.
• A total solar eclipse on July 22.
• A penumbral lunar eclipse on August 6.
• A partial lunar eclipse on December 31.

timeanddate.com will provide updates about more eclipses closer to the time of their occurrence.

Useful tools

The World Clock’s Time Zone Converter helps eclipse enthusiasts and travelers discover when the eclipse will occur in cities’ local time. Links on the results page to the chosen city will allow people find out weather information for the eclipse’s date. More useful tools are found at the bottom of this page.

Note: Universal Time (UT) is a timescale based on the Earth’s rotation. UT is about 0.23 seconds ahead of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) during most of August. Eclipse information courtesy of Fred Espenak, NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center, and P. Harrington, author of Eclipse! The What, Where, When, Why & How Guide to Watching Solar and Lunar Eclipses.