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ShareAhmedabad: A penumbral lunar eclipse will occur tomorrow. The eclipse is predicted to last for about two hours. However, sky gazers in India will miss the spectacular show as it will not be visible in the country.
Today's lunar eclipse will be completely invisible to the naked eye but the moon will be above the horizon from most of Canada. According to NASA sources, this penumbral eclipse is only of academic interest since the magnitude is just 0.156 at the point of maximum eclipse.
The eclipse will be visible in North America west of the Great Lakes, including Hawaii, and many parts of Alaska. The moon will also be high in the sky over New Zealand and eastern Australia during the eclipse, he said.
A lunar eclipse occurs when the earth is in a straight line between the sun and the moon and the shadow of the earth falls on the moon. A penumbral lunar eclipse occurs when the moon passes through penumbra, the lighter part of the earth's shadow.
The month of July will also see a total solar eclipse on 22 July 2009 too. The next penumbral lunar eclipse will occur on 6 August 2009.
While, Gujarat Science City is in the process of spreading mass awareness and participation for the up-coming total solar eclipse, a live phone-in programme on the lunar eclipse has been organised in association with Gyan Vani Educational Radio today between 9.00 am to 10.00 am in the morning with a repeat broadcast in the evening from 9.00 pm to 10.00 pm.
Dr AM Prabhakar, Advisor and Head, Gujarat Council on Science & Technology and Dr CN Nagarani, Retd Scientist from Space Application Centre, Ahmedabad will interact with the listener. Interested members may interact with the experts on 02717-241212.
