GUWAHATI: The second of the four penumbral lunar eclipses of 2020 is expected to occur tonight. The eclipse will begin at 11.15 pm on 5 June and will continue till 02.34 am of 6 June.
The maximum eclipse will be visible at 12.54 am of 6 June during which the moon will turn a shade darker.
“Today’s eclipse will be Penumbral. When the Moon only enters the Penumbral region, a Penumbral Eclipse takes place when a slight, usually quite unappreciable darkening of the moon’s surface occurs. While in partial lunar eclipse only a part of the moon enters the umbra,” said Babul Bora, Curator of Guwahati Planetarium and member of Infinity Astronomy Club.
The penumbral lunar eclipse in June this year is popularly called the 'Strawberry Moon Eclipse' and occurs when the moon moves through the faint, outer part of the Earth's shadow.
“You cannot see a Penumbral Eclipse directly. So people don't generally notice this. If you take a camera and click it properly, you can see a slight difference between the two,” said Astrophotographer Dipankar Bhagawati, popularly known as Stephen Styris.
The next two lunar eclipses of 2020 will be on 4-5 July and 29-30 November, both of which will be a penumbral lunar eclipses.