The Moon is often the brightest object in the night sky. However, many people know surprisingly little about the lunar cycle and may wonder why there is not a Full Moon every night or a lunar eclipse every month.
Why does the Moon change faces each month?
The Moon makes Earth a more livable planet by moderating our home planet’s wobble on its axis,
NASA
In the same way the Earth orbits around the Sun, the Moon orbits the our planet.
The Moon takes approximately 27 days for celestial body to complete its revolution around Earth.
The Moon is barely visible currently, as it is transitioning from the New Moon which took place on February 23.
A New Moon is the phase of the Moon when it first appears as a slender crescent, shortly after its conjunction with the Sun.
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This means it is in the phase when the side of the Moon facing Earth is in shadow.
This phase occurs when the Sun and Moon and Earth align in that order.
Over the next fortnight, the Moon will slowly transition to the other side of Earth, culminating to a Full Moon.
The Moon’s orbit is tilted, meaning it rarely pass through Earth’s shadow to create a lunar eclipse.
Such an eclipse only occurs when the Earth is at a specific point in its orbit around the sun.
This is the same astronomical principle driving the rarer and even more spectacular solar eclipse.
The period when the Moon is closest to the Earth is called the perigee, or more commonly called a Supermoon.
A perigee appears noticeably larger and brighter than a normal Full Moon due to this proximity.
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When is the next lunar eclipse?
There are three broad definitions for lunar eclipses.
During a total lunar eclipse, when the Moon passes through the innermost portion of the Earth’s shadow, it takes on an eerie crimson colour.
A partial lunar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes through even a small part of Earth’s inner shadow, dubbed the umbra.
A penumbral lunar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes through the penumbra, the outermost section of Earth’s shadow.
All four eclipses in 2020 are penumbral eclipses, and the moon will be cloaked in a sinister silvery hue.
The first eclipse of the year took place on January 10.
This began at 7.30pm GMT (2.30pm ET) and was visible in Europe, Africa, Asia, and Australia.
The next eclipse of the year, also a penumbral eclipse, will take place on June 5 and will peak at 8.24am GMT (3.24am EST) and will last for three hours and 18 minutes.
This eclipse will be visible throughout Europe, Africa, Asia and Australia.
The first eclipse to be visible from the US will occur exactly a month later, on July 5.
targazers on the East Coast will see the eclipse start to take shape at 11.07pm ET (4.07am GMT), peaking at 12.29am ET (4.29pm GMT).
This early morning penumbral eclipse will be visible to everyone in the Americas, southwest Europe, and Africa and will last for about two hours and 45 minutes.
The final penumbral eclipse of 2020 will occur on November 30.
Lasting four hour and 20 minutes, this eclipse will be the longest of the year and will again be visible from the East Coast from 2.32am ET (7.32am GMT).
This eclipse will be visible throughout Asia, Australia, most of the Pacific and the Americas.
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