One week from now, Earth’s shadow will swallow 96% of the moon’s visible face, leaving just a thin sliver exposed to direct sunlight.
The partial lunar eclipse on August 27-28 will be observed by billions of people all around North America, South America, Africa, and Europe.
This eclipse occurs when Earth comes to the position between the sun and the moon at the time of the full moon but not precisely to cause a total lunar eclipse.
On the dark side of Earth, the umbra, which is the darkest and the innermost part of the shadow of the Earth, will make its first contact with the surface of the moon at 10:33 pm EDT (02:33 GMT) on August 27, as reported by TimeandDate.com.
The shadow then creeps across the moon for hours before reaching maximum eclipse at 12:12 a.m. EDT on August 28, or 0412 GMT.
During the maximum eclipse phase, the part of the moon which is in the shade will tend to take on an orange-red colour. This is due to the sunlight being refracted through the Earth’s atmosphere before falling on the moon’s surface.
With 96% coverage, most viewers should get a strong version of that effect even though this isn’t a full total eclipse.
However, all phases of an eclipse occur at the same time for everyone who is on Earth’s night side looking up at the moon, but the timing differs according to location. For people located in California on the West Coast of the USA, the maximum eclipse occurs just after midnight on the evening of August 27-28.
In the United Kingdom, the event takes place just before sunrise on the morning of August 28 when the moon is low on the southwestern horizon.
It is worthwhile checking a website like Time and Date for your location-specific eclipse timing before going out into the backyard.
Whereas a solar eclipse poses a real danger to one’s eyes if not observed using protective glasses, a lunar eclipse is totally harmless to observe without any protective measures.
Binoculars or a telescope will sharpen the view of Earth’s shadow moving across the lunar disc, but they’re optional rather than necessary.
