A spectacular night awaits skywatchers on Friday as a penumbral lunar eclipse will occur during the full “snow moon” and later a comet would zoom past Earth, reported AP. The process will begin early Saturday in Europe, Africa and West Asia.
The full moon, which is called a “snow moon” because it occurs during winter in February, will enter the Earth’s outer shadow, penumbra, and will appear darker than normal. The moon will not be blacked out this time like it does in a full eclipse, but only a part of the moon will be shaded, AP added. The eclipse is expected to last for a little over four hours.
The penumbral lunar eclipse will not be visible from Australia, New Zealand and the East Asian countries along the Pacific coast. The moon will enter the Earth’s shadow at 5:32 pm EST (4.02 am IST). It will be completely outside the penumbra by 9.55 pm EST (8.25 am IST).
A few hours after the eclipse, Comet 45P will make its “closest approach to Earth” early on Saturday morning, Nasa said. The comet, which has been visible after sunset for the past two months, will be 7.4 million miles from Earth. It will be visible in the morning sky in Hercules constellation. A set of Binoculars or a telescope would be needed to spot this comet, which is seen with a green tail. Comet 45P will come around once again in 2022, Nasa added.
The Slooh network of observatories will be running a live broadcast of the events from the Canary Islands.
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