Home > Ephemeris Program > 11/27/2020 – Ephemeris – There will be a slight eclipse of the Moon Monday morning

11/27/2020 – Ephemeris – There will be a slight eclipse of the Moon Monday morning

November 27, 2020

This is Ephemeris for Native American Heritage Day, Friday, November 27th. Today the Sun will be up for 9 hours and 9 minutes, setting at 5:05, and it will rise tomorrow at 7:57. The Moon, 3 days before full, will set at 6:02 tomorrow morning.

Early Monday morning there will be a penumbral eclipse of the Moon. It’s not much of an eclipse to look at, but it is an eclipse to open the last eclipse season of this year. I’ll have more on that Monday, but the lunar eclipse on Monday will a slight one, where no part of the Moon disappears into the Earth’s inner shadow. The top part of the Moon will look a bit darker than the bottom part for a time, that’s all. The Earth and the Moon are illuminated by the Sun, and it isn’t a point light source. Your shadow isn’t sharp. The fuzziness at the edge of your head’s shadow on the ground in the sunlight is your penumbra. The maximum part of the eclipse will be at 4:44 am (09:44 UT)with the effect seen within a half hour of that time. The effect is best seen with sunglasses to dim the Moon.

The event times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.

Addendum

Penumbral eclipse maximum

The maximum of the penumbral lunar eclipse at 4:44 am EST (9:44 UT) Monday, November 30, 2020. The upper right part of the Moon will have a dusky appearance. The effect should be visible from about 4:15 to 5:15 am (09:15 to 10:15 UT). I find it’s best to view the Moon with sunglasses to reduce the Moon’s glare to better see the effect. Created using Stellarium.

Penumbral lunar eclipse with earth's shadow

Penumbral lunar eclipse with Earth’s shadow at maximum. The outer ring is the outer edge of the penumbra the Moon’s outer shadow where so little sunlight is cut off as to not be discernible. The inner circle is the edge of the umbra, the darkest part of the Earth’s shadow, where almost 100% of the Sun’s light is cut off. The Moon will be in the western sky at this time, and its motion with respect to the Earth’s shadow is to the upper left. Created using Cartes du Ciel (Sky Charts).

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